About.
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The Location
Semester II provided me the opportunity to explore these theories through a design project, situated at the centre of Kreuzberg, Berlin. The site, encompasses a group of twenty-five Plattenbau residential blocks, surrounded by generous green space located at the centre of a bustling city. However, due to its lack of density and vast parkland, it felt somewhat detached from its humming context. The substantial Plattenbauten dotted throughout the lawn, would become the German Democratic Republic’s (GDR) one stop solution to the worrying housing problem’s East Berlin was facing after the Second World War. Originally constructed throughout the mid-1950s using the rubble left over from the bombings, the unit’s ranged in height from five, to the modern twelve storeys. At this time, these blocks were deemed highly desirable and due to their proximity to the former wall, the blocks’ occupants were chosen as a result of their political allegiance to the Communist regime, providing passive surveillance to the border. However, due to the fall of the wall, and the easing of travel restrictions between East and West, the occupants began to view the higher standards of living accommodation available on the other side and interest in the blocks decreased. Plattenbau/Plattenbauten: (noun) 1. A building constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs. Often residential, these buildings are commonly found in highly densified cities across central and eastern Europe. |