The airfield of Tempelhof Airport two miles of the city center was shut down in October 2008. The size of the airfield, the economical situation in general and the demographics call for different means for revitalizing this area. The challenge is unprecedented, the redevelopment of the center of Berlin after reunification along with the the Potsdamer Platz area can’t keep up with the challenge. Interesting enough there is no one developer offering the one and only idea, instead the process of time appears to be part of the solution.

Planning the unplanable becomes the issue. What if there is a way to provide a framework that will over opportunities to a market that coincides with this opportunity.

Berlin had a number of such situations, the International Building Exhibition in the early 80ies went along with an Exhibition that dealt with the people and their places and ways to revitalise neighbourhoods like Kreuzberg without optimising profit margins, the so called Altbau IBA.

After reunification some 10 years later, parallel to the engineering of the reunification a number of niches started out with people with nothing but ideas. Today they are part of the cultural life of the city with likewise flourishing careers of people.

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One of the ideas about the redevelopment of the Tempelhof Airfield is to offer such opportunities to individuals taking on the initiative, living their dreams. Ultimately there is the hope that life will show the way, how to develop the city of the future. Rather developing the area top down one is looking to foster ideas which eventually will turn out strong enough to work as a guideline.

The summer academy ars09berlin will work along those lines and explore spaces suitable to experiment with the ideas of spaces to life and work. Rather than planning the city the question will be what are the buildings of the city of the future and what are the rules and urban patterns that will have to be created to grant sustainability.

The temporary structure by chance will guide the way, working on the idea of spaces and the idea of the structure that allows for buildings fit for a low carbon lifestyle.

For further information on the place go to
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Tempelhof_Airport