In Berlin, still functioning buildings are frequently subject to demolition, to be replaced by more profitable, denser structures. Buildings from the 1970s are particularly affected. Their disappearance from the cityscape is our call to action.

# Demolitions trigger displacement. Since demolitions often happen quietly, without prior notice, it is difficult to form alliances against them.

# The climate crisis calls for a radical change in the way we deal with the existing building stock. The understanding of seeing every existing resource as a value and treating it with care is missing.

The project "Visitig Abriss" documents perspectives on demolition practices through film; the focus is set on three buildings in Kurfürstenstraße that are being demolished. Visiting means for us an on-site research and to include the perspective of different protagonists involved: neighbors, users, and in this case sex workers, construction workers of the demolition company and the investor who contracts the demolition.

okt. 2022 - feb. 2023
#multimedia
#installation
#publicspace
#sitesituated
#abrisssssSTOP
#DownWithDemolition
#YikimiDurdur

press kit ↗

February 25th 2023

ABRISSSTOP
PROTEST FEST

We say: Down with Demolition in Berlin! Rebuild instead. Save the buildings that are already here!

February 25th, 2023

16:00: Exhibition opening and demonstration –
U Kurfürstenstraße in front of the LSD store

17:30: Film screening, end of the demonstration with warm drinks in front of Urania 4-10.


speeches by Bündnis Leerstand Haab-ich-Saath, Architects 4 Future, Initiative Hermannplatz, Kiezpalaver Schöneberg und dem Berliner Mieterverein

February 23th - 27th 2023

SHOP WINDOW EXHIBITION

temporary exhibition exploring the topic of demolition on different levels.

Shown in the shop window of the M&M Backshop in the LSD building, Potsdamer Str. 172, 10783 Berlin. 

Visible 24/7 from outside.

Three buildings in Freiburg's Europaviertel are threatened with demolition. Appartments , studios, rehearsal rooms, offices and one of the few brownfield sites are to make way for more profitable planning.

Film screening of the abrissstop! film "macht kaputt was euch kaputt macht!"
As part of the "Energie:Energeia" exhibition program in the DELPHI_space/außenstelle in Freiburg.

Together with initiatives from Germany and Switzerland, the topic of energy consumption in architecture was discussed. What is the value of installed energy in connected buildings? What socio-political energy is needed for a climate and socially just construction turnaround?

In their joint creative period between 1966 and 1989, Inken Baller and Hinrich Baller designed striking buildings in the former West Berlin with an independent, expressive and distinct architectural language. While these buildings polarized the professional world at the time, their projects were accepted by Berliners and remain an expression of unconventional housing construction to this day.

The exhibition stages a sensual revisit to the inhabited spaces: recent interior photographs show filigree, permeability, the integration of common areas into the residential buildings and their unusual floor plan solutions. Accompanied by the audio recordings of today’s residents and archival material, the exhibition documents architecture that has been used, lived in and experienced, posing the question of what today’s housing construction can learn from this open understanding of space.

The VISITING exhibition was a cooperation with Deutsches Achitekturzentrum, berlin and was open between march and june 2022.

> more infos on fADK website.

juni- juli 2023
#exhibition 
#curation

In their joint creative period between 1966 and 1989, Inken Baller and Hinrich Baller designed striking buildings in the former West Berlin with an independent, expressive and distinct architectural language. While these buildings polarized the professional world at the time, their projects were accepted by Berliners and remain an expression of unconventional housing construction to this day.

The exhibition stages a sensual revisit to the inhabited spaces: recent interior photographs show filigree, permeability, the integration of common areas into the residential buildings and their unusual floor plan solutions. Accompanied by the audio recordings of today’s residents and archival material, the exhibition documents architecture that has been used, lived in and experienced, posing the question of what today’s housing construction can learn from this open understanding of space.

The VISITING exhibition was a cooperation with Deutsches Achitekturzentrum, berlin and was open between march and june 2022.


> more infos on DAZ website.

march - june 2022
#exhibition
#curation

> collection of press reviews about the exhibition and the book here.

Although most of Inken and Hinrich Baller‘s buildings were developed within the tight constraints of the social housing program in the 1970s and 1980s, they always offer more than the standard: slenderness, lightness, large balconies, complex spatial relationships across mulitple floors, and outdoor green spaces. With their unconventional residential and public buildings, the Ballers‘ creations are today as much as ever examples for high-quality and affordable housing and intriguing urban spaces. During visits with current residents of these buildings, photographs of the lively and lived-in architecture were taken. A collection of archive material, original plans and essays complement these images to present a complete picture of these multifaceted buildings. What can we learn for today‘s housing production from this open understanding of space?


ed. by urban fragment observatory, Berlin 2022. Text von urban fragment observatory, Turit Fröbe & Christian Kloss, 17 x 24 cm, 544 p. with more than 300 pictures and plans, soft cover.


> both English and German editions are available in bookshops and online.
> collection of press reviews about the book here.