Transforming traditional courts in Berlin city blocks into a vibrant public route.

Between Schlesische Straße and the river Spree in the borough of Kreuzberg in Berlin is a void that sharply interrupts the urban structure of this particular area called Wrangelkiez. This gap is as big as a Berlin city block and this is where Blockbuster has been projected. It presents an alternative strategy for inner-urban city development. The design introduces a new urban concept within the dominant old structures of Wrangelkiez, from where it draws its inspiration. These built structures date from the Gründerzeit, the period of economic upswing in 19th-century Germany and Austria. Typical of the blocks in question are the impressive atmospheric courts traditionally at the heart of Berlin's city blocks. The remarkable properties and visual qualities of the old fabric of Berlin are the springboard for this design of an urban form that sets out to repair the structure of Wrangelkiez. The project additionally evaluates the extent to which the Kreuzberg mix of housing and work within the limits of one city block can come to represent the urbanity typical of Berlin as a whole. To this end it examines both the physical urban space and its day-to-day use. Its solution is to introduce small-scale creative industry alongside housing. This carries forward the use of the Gründerzeit structures into our own time.
Blockbuster opens up the fragmented and complex court structures to the public. This in-between space with its high development density admits to a labyrinthine complexity and a dramatic sense of space; although there is no feeling of being confined and no danger of losing one's way there. Previously invisible inner sides of the blocks are actively deployed as an architectural agent. Firewalls on site are left exposed and the sight lines in the in-between space framed by tall ascending solid outer walls. The intimacy of that space contrasts with the meteoric pace of life beyond the bounds of the city block.
The courts of Blockbuster no longer consist of holes in a 22-metre-thick layer of built fabric but present an unbroken space composed of 11 disunited oblique volumes. The various 'houses' have steeply raked roof and facade planes sequenced as a cohesive sculptural landscape. Substantively, Blockbuster consists of facilities for living and working, with small businesses, eating/drinking establishments and ground-floor studios. In this way, the transition from the Wrangelkiez area to the Spree embankment is enriched with a varied and vibrant urban living environment.

Place of education: TU Eindhoven | Specialization: architecture | Tutors: Christian Rapp, Bernard Colenbrander, Jacob Voorthuis