Category: Phase 2

In 1920 Greater Berlin had a population of 3.8 million. Designed for growth, the city encompassed forests, meadows, and space for urban expansion. Today Berlin has 3.6 million inhabitants. This means that there should be sufficient capacity within the boundaries established in 1920 to last far into the future, even with a high rate of growth. Since such a large belt of outlying suburbs should not exist, there is also no need to further extend the Berlin urban area. In a democracy, proximity to citizens counts. The city’s history, the different population densities, economic structure, and history of migration are factors which give Berlin and Brandenburg different electorates; this is further reflected in the balance of parties in the two regions. For both Berlin and Brandenburg, the merging of the two states means a substantial loss of autonomy. The undesirable belt of outlying suburbs, which, moreover, includes only a small part of Brandenburg, is therefore not a reason for Berlin and Brandenburg to be extensively interconnected. Good cooperation between the two states is sufficient.

Berlin must no longer rely on Brandenburg solving its housing deficit. It is insane that as many homes are being built in the cheap outlying suburbs as in Berlin, even if the prices show that demand is much higher in Berlin. Also, it is wrong that space-consuming commercial facilities are so cheap in Brandenburg; there should be an efficient offering of commercial ­spaces in the city. Berlin needs to take a sustainable approach to spaces and development, so that more space is available for recreation in a green setting. Brandenburg should focus mainly on strengthening its own towns and cities and on developing agriculture; it should not set out to skim off Berlin’s growth through bargains in the ‘outlying suburbs. No one should deceive themselves that Brandenburg has been chosen by a global player. So, in as far as urban development and mobility development are concerned, both Berlin and ­Brandenburg lag behind current trends.

In spite of the mobility and climate laws and abundance of fine words, things are basically continuing as in the final years of the twentieth century: transport is synonymous with cars. Expansion of public transport is advancing very hesitantly; tramlines that have been planned for decades are not being built; new U-Bahn lines are a utopia. Berlin is acquiring hundreds of thousands of new inhabitants and we need an alternative to the car, but people are thinking small. In a city that is not dependent on the car, real alternatives are needed: an extensive metropolitan network in Berlin and a high-frequency rail network linking the towns and cities of Brandenburg. Berlin is too big to be accessible by tram and bike alone. The goal must be for everyone to be able to reach a ­metro station on foot. This requires extensive investment – which can be made more doable if the metro is built mainly as an elevated railway. Comprehensive development of Brandenburg using public transport is not possible. Development of rural areas will continue to involve cars in the future. Despite the introduction of self-driving electric cars, this will require extensive resources and expenditure. Brandenburg must make its towns and cities fit for the future by concentrating them around railway stations. This means dismantling residential districts that are not fit for the future. Railway links and timetable intervals must be vastly improved.

Infrastructure and urban planning are interconnected. Today, however, ­houses are continuing to be built in places where there is no adequate alternative to the car. There is no consistent pro-active planning indicating where the urgently needed hundreds of thousands of new homes can be built. Such plans that do exist are lists of ad hoc projects. Many of these projects, on the outskirts of cities and towns, are entirely dependent on cars. We need a plan based on the premise that you can only build in locations where a car-free life is viable. In the case of industrial areas, accessibility that does not require a car is extremely limited. This is not just due to the frequent lack of public transport, but also to inefficient treatment of space, which leads to great distances having to be traversed. In the car-free city of 1920 most industry was inte­grated in the city and efficiently stacked in factory yards and workshops. Given the improvement in hygiene, climate, and noise standards, this type of commercial space should be integrated into the city as a model to be followed. It is standard for public space – including in the inner city – to be configured as parking lots for stationary cars. The construction of cycle paths is not governed by regulations, is carried out on an ad hoc basis, and is ­clearly subordinated to the car. Pedestrians are left with the verges. So each street tells us for whom the city has been built and which mode of movement has priority: driving. In the future self-driving cars will park autonomously outside residential areas. Until then, however, street planning should signal, even in its finest details, that public space belongs to everyone and not primarily to cars.

It is not just Covid-19 and climate change that prove that a fundamental paradigm shift in land policy in the metropolitan area – beyond the densification of the city described above – is necessary. A strategic land policy must be introduced which prioritises resource-saving and strictly sustainability-oriented provision of agricultural products, provides inhabitants with sufficient attractive spaces for recreation near their homes or for short breaks, offers sufficient interconnected habitats for native flora and fauna, and finally provides for long-term adaptation of countryside and built-up areas in preparation for climate change. Cities, towns, and countryside should emerge stronger from this: especially in view of development of built-up areas and the associated urban sprawl into valuable countryside and production space, competition for land should be prevented through reflection on the respective strong points. The focus is on goal-oriented allocation of spaces and administrative access to land – naturally with the participation of the inhabitants and current owners of the sites. The municipal Greater-Berlin Joint Authority and, as its legal successor, the City of Berlin, set a fine example of financial commitment from 1915 onwards, not least due to pressure from the public, by purchasing woodlands for citizens’ recreation and undertaking to maintain them in per­pe­tuity through the Permanent Forest Agreement of 27 March 1915, which is still in force today.

Our focus is on developing land near the city. To make up for the loss of allotments, which are now once again in high demand, allotment parks should be set aside along the city borders to provide everyone with attractive recreational space. High biodiversity is anyway, however, offered in the new city blocks inside the existing city with their green courtyards, façades, and roofs. Small ‘metropolitan gardens’ will ensure ecological cultivation of basic foodstuffs and vegetables and pasture grazing, thereby directly supplying the urban population. At transport nodes there are to be large nurseries in greenhouses for exotic plants and intensive livestock farming; their energy-intensive operation will use wind and solar power. Wedges of ecologically valuable landscape stretch from the various virginal forests deep into the cities and towns; today’s forest monocultures, which anyway have very little future due to climate change, are to be transformed into diversely structured production forests and will also be available for leisure. In rural areas far from settlements, large agricultural sites and energy-generation plants will be concentrated between land given over to nature. Current efforts by the states of Berlin and Brandenburg must be redoubled. A new land policy must ensure long-term provision for regional production of agricultural products and for recreation in the metropolis and in the environs of cities and towns in Brandenburg. Just as Flächenagentur Brandenburg (‘Brandenburg Land Agency’) handles land with protection status and reserves of land for compensatory and replacement measures, so we need an agency to negotiate with owners of land and make targeted land purchases to meet the region’s needs. In addition, the administrative and financial framework of conditions for regional parks around Berlin must be reinforced.

Outlying districts: New development plans will enable and promote denser and higher development. The prototype is inner-city neighbourhoods; here, however, there will be only four storeys.

Densification towards the centre: There is to be no more wasting of space. Subsoil is to be recycled and utilised in more ways. This will save resources, restrict additional loss of land, and make use of existing infrastructure. The individual mosaic pieces will grow together. But the idiosyncrasies will remain and form the identity of each locality. Within this model, the city in its diversity can grow further. The multiplicity of Berlin’s urban forms is unique. During various phases of growth and destruction a multiplicity of urban structures have been established.

New neighbourhoods: The remaining spaces and boundaries form future urban neighbourhoods. The circular line will be a ‘Transrapid’ connecting the suburbs. A new ring railway should connect the suburbs with one another and so stimulate development. We propose using maglev as a circular railway. Alleys will connect the metropolis’ numerous islands and local centres with one another and relieve the inner city. These new alleys can serve as park-like routes for scooters, ramblers, and cyclists; they will be accompanied by watercourses, canals, and trees, and the rapid public ring railway.

Examples of cooperation between Berlin and Brandenburg: The Heidekrautbahn railway line will be reactivated. The reactivation of this line will create a valuable link between urban residential districts and surrounding areas in ­Brandenburg. In fact, eight other projects for close connections are planned.

Plan 2 A+B: Wilhelmsruh
Here we examine further development of the city. The existing allotments hold great potential for the inner-city. Largely inaccessible, these have until now only been available to a small part of the population. We propose converting the allotment gardens into large, interconnected landscape parks for use by all. This is where the border strips and green corridors will start. When connected, they will form ‘green lungs’ for the city. It will be possible to cycle along them from the inner city into the countryside. The edges of the parks will have a tree-lined promenade on which residential buildings, cycle paths, and leisure facilities will be built. The continuing sprawl near the city will be limited and ordered by the new parks and their new edges with their structural borders. The new development plans allow for three- to four-storey developments within the city boundaries. The city will become denser and make better use of existing infrastructure. The densification will create new neighbourhoods. Some streets will be widened; squares and parks will be established. To compensate, plots of land may be built up more densely. The existing old brick industrial buildings in Wilhelmsruh will be retained; the old railway workshops will be kept as commercial spaces. Offices and commercial functions will be established along the road to Rosenthal.

Plan 3 A+B: Fredersdorf
Here we examine developing a suburb. A new M-Bahn (Magnetbahn) station on the circular line is to be created at the intersection with the urban radial axis. Between the old S-Bahn station and the new M-Bahn station there will be an extensive space. Settlements have already developed along the radial axis. The railway lines frequently intersect these settlements at ground level; the noise they make impedes development near the route. We propose making Fredershof an example for putting the railway route underground; this will create a new, high-value urban space linking the fragmented areas and stretching between the M-Bahn and the S-Bahn station. The rapid railway link will make it possible to reach the city more quickly – a prerequisite for the success of the new transport policy. Along the railway less-used areas often lie fallow. Putting the tracks underground in the suburbs can turn these areas into new centres. The new development will partly finance the cost of building the railway. On land formerly occupied by the railway ‘broad suburban streets’ will be created; these will have a central green space surrounded, in the manner of a village green, by new residential and commercial buildings serving the suburbs. IT firms are looking for cheap office space in the environs of Berlin. Dismantling the large marshalling yards in Fredersdorf will create valuable free space for development. New settlements will be created along the railway routes. To compensate for and restrict these settlements, green strips of forest will be created on their edges (this will be a mandatory condition). At the same time, the forests will capture CO2. The new settlements will be built from wood; they will also capture CO2. To develop the suburbs, the railway routes can either be designed as enclosed viaducts with retail and park-and-ride facilities directly underneath them or put underground and built over, giving better sound insulation and fewer barriers to development. Both the latter options can be realised, depending on the location.

The M-Bahn: A new circular railway will link the suburbs with one another. This will run parallel to the city’s motorway ring road. With just a few stations, this has been designed as a rapid connection. The pursuit of cheap office space for start-ups and IT services will mean high demand for suburbs at S-Bahn stations. Linking the suburbs with one another will lead to high-tech belts springing up along these rings. These high-tech belts will at the same time be close to the industrial complexes that are growing along the motorway ring.

Plan 4 A+B: Wachower Fliess Regional Park
In this plan we look at an element of the regional park: development of the landscape for leisure purposes. Many areas in the environs of Berlin are used for agriculture. These are at the moment not always accessible and constitute barriers to development. At the same time, they are important for ensuring regional and sustainable food production in the future and for providing for the city. They should not be displaced by leisure functions but retained and developed. Where there are streams and wetlands, no utilisation is possible; access to these features should carefully be opened up. Parks situated inside existing natural areas should be made accessible again. Streams are to be revitalised if necessary and developed as linear parks. New paths and paths for cyclists and walkers – partly elevated – are to be created. Along these green zones there are to be viewing points, barbecue and picnicking spots, and temporary catering units which can be dismantled if needed. The surrounding cultivated landscape is to be left in place. The former agricultural function is to be turned into an experience; new leisure functions are to be added. The areas between the various functions are to be forested. In some areas, new communal gardens similar to allotments can be established. This will require planning cooperation between Berlin and Brandenburg. If allotments are lost in the city, they can be recreated on the outskirts and made more attractive and easily accessible.

The areas around public transport stations and the linear urban areas along the main arteries are to be strengthened functionally and physically. They constitute the basis for a sustainable and functional mixed-use and walkable city. Across the shared state border of Berlin-Brandenburg, burdens must be distributed equally, and resources must be activated in a coordinated manner. A trans-national land policy, sustainable value creation, and the involvement of members of civil society can facilitate sustainable development.

Action Strategies
Households are the basic unit of a vital metropolitan region. Instead of speculating about the future population of the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region, the household as a variable entity is at the centre of our considerations. In the past, men were typically the sole providers in the classic nuclear family and thus determined the family’s place of residence. In the future, however, decisions regarding one’s place of residence will be based on democratic structures in heterogeneous household constellations (single, patchwork, LGBT, communal groupings, golden agers). The tendencies toward weighing up the benefits of proximity to the workplace, educational institutions, leisure facilities, and expressions of individual status are already apparent. Only a holistic view of the needs of workers, caregivers, and those needing care will provide the basis for an inclusive urban development that takes gender and generational perspectives equally into account.

Thus, the urban region has to meet many different needs and should allow for a wide range of planning and mobility options. For this purpose, a tactical process design for cooperative and inter-institutional planning should be developed, one that reflects the needs of those who use and live in the city, rather than simply the needs and wishes of major planning bodies and developers.

Accessibility of Life Circles, Frameworks, and Processes
To enable all residents to deal with their daily chores within a 15-minute radius from their homes and to reach their places of work within an hour, the prevailing logic of the functional separation between living, work, travel, and leisure must be further developed. The public transport structures in Berlin are already overloaded (S-Bahn circular railway); a future challenge, therefore, would be to reduce the number of cross-commuters and provide equivalent working and living conditions throughout the settlement areas of the metropolitan region. The network of the main roads and public transport stations forms a framework for further processes of urban development. Using the existing and updated control mechanisms, as well as implementing restructuring, consolidating, and activating measures, the current demands can be served, and additional areas can be developed. In this way, the metropolitan region can also react to changing framework conditions in the next 50 years, thereby avoiding any unnecessary sealings and major planning errors.

Basic Concept for the Settlement Area
The metropolis of the future is characterised by a robust spatial framework in which unknown functional-spatial causal relationships can emerge. Building on the existing developments, the stations of the public railway transport routes and the main radials of Berlin-Brandenburg establish a stable structure that unites and interconnects the settlement structure. This concept is based on the avoidance of journeys (through the city, of short distances) and the shift away from the personal car to other modes of transport. In the future, this will have to be consolidated by additional routes and other mobility carriers.

Hubs and Railway Station Districts
Hubs and railway station districts have great potential for development. The centrality inherent in the stops and stations should be activated to the benefit of the entire city. In the context of a walkable city (or ‘a city of short distances’), it is important to regard the stops as more than just mobility stations. They are also central hubs and can serve a wide variety of uses related to, for example, local cultural and educational institutions, and public institutions. The hubs should provide a decentralised contact point. In addition, the underused areas in the immediate vicinity of the transport stations should be densified into small and lively urban districts. In the context of the sequence of the main radials, the aim is to transform the arterial roads into urban spaces by interweaving the street space and adjacent functions by ensuring the quality of the public spaces and the spatial and functional densification of the housing. Thus, it is necessary to reduce transit or through traffic and to reorganise public space in an attractive way to accommodate different needs. In addition, local identities are to be strengthened and the monotony of a spatial sequence replaced with something more exciting.

Second, it is necessary to activate and control developments because different spatial-cultural structures require different approaches to stimulation, requiring structure-related planning concepts across administrative boundaries. In the core zone of the densely populated city, it is important to counteract the tendencies of speculation and rising rental prices and to let the residents of any given neighbourhood actively participate in its development. Additionally, the provision of green and open spaces must be given higher priority in the context of climate change. The European city of the twentieth century is characterised by mobility corridors and functional clusters. Programmatic consolidations must activate the potential of civic engagement in single-family homes and preserve the qualities of suburbia. Can the functionality of the commercial clusters can be further optimised in the course of digitalisation? Can they become new identity-creating structures in the metropolitan area? In rural areas, the respective localities can maintain their character and the quality of life can be increased through careful stimulation, expanded cooperation, and new mobility possibilities. By strengthening the village identity and everyday uses, the distance between old and new residents can be closed over time. The returnees in particular have great potential here.

Third, the synergies and cycles of landscapes must be considered. In order to avoid further urban sprawl, green spaces and agricultural structures must be strengthened against the tendencies of the building industry by valorising the landscape areas. Locally specific, programmatic, and institutional focal points (‘magnets’) form synergies between research, agriculture, and the economy. Magnets in the hybrid landscapes must also be strengthened. A network of economic cycles, functional interdependencies, and production landscapes form a hybrid landscape, which is characterised by a multitude of (often conflicting) priorities that are activated and used in an interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary manner. Through better networking, knowledge transfer, the application of new digital technologies, and climate-oriented management, the added value of non-human actors is increased. These multiple uses enable the landscapes to react, for example, to climatic or economic changes and to develop a resilient character. With regard to rural spaces, we believe that increasing the productivity of the landscape takes place in interaction with the spatial dramaturgy and the identity-defining local characteristics. The transition between contrasting modified landscapes offers great potential for new concepts and securing the landscape qualities of the entire region. The economic upgrading of the landscape goes hand in hand with its aesthetic improvement and an increased ecological functionality of the natural areas of Brandenburg.

Little Big Berlin – The Berlin-Brandenburg region consists of a large number of urban and natural structures that make up an exceptional ensemble. The basis for the ‘big’ vision of this region is the acknowledgment of a system that respects the conditions of the individual places or localities, their hierarchy, the determination of their interfaces, their potential, and their common bonds. The whole is then precisely formed by the bonds between the localities. These are defined morphologically, historically, hierarchically, socially, and through shifts in the common bonds, or other particulars.

Bodies of Water – Berlin is an archipelago of smaller urban complexes. The settlements in the landscape then either form lines in the industrial areas or are adapted to the character of the flows. Their positions then determine the settlements’ unique character, conditions, and possible uses – from the designed landscape to the region’s industrial background. They form islands. By defining and developing these centres, an alternative, circular reading of the region – with its centres and sub-centres characterised by strong identities – can be created. The flow of the infrastructure and the landscape determine both the star-shaped settlement pattern and the surrounding lake landscape. They are akin to a ‘developmental skeleton’, which is responsible for the metropolitan region’s diverse character.

Radials – To better understand the standards of Greater Berlin, we have defined three zones radiating from the centre of the metropolis – at radii of 7.5 kilometres, 15 kilometres, and 30 kilometres. Berlin should not expand beyond this limit as a city. Each circle is organised according to a different guiding principle. Each principle increases the complexity of the entire region.

Concept – We have selected three areas, each in or on the border of one of the radial zones. These were chosen with regard to the given topics and to their functions in the river or lake landscape. We allow for the development of industry in the chosen locations along the lake area’s radials. In the landscape zone, we propose the land be used for sustainable agriculture and the logical bolstering of recreational opportunities. We complement and connect the bodies of water into a network. In the zones near the river, we recommend the development of a science and research centre, in accordance with local conditions. The expansion of the riverside should ensure people’s access to the ­river and the river’s to the people. Hidden or covered bodies of water should be revealed or opened.

Circular Railway – Border Area – We regard the circular suburban railroad as a space for exploring new urban forms. We therefore propose taking advantage of Berlin’s inner reserves along the circular suburban railway by creating an exclusive transport link as a way of exploring new urban structures. We introduce sustainable and high-density blocks along the edge of the railway. The blocks, characterised by diverse interiors and typologies, represent a new energy for the city. One block, attached to the railway station building, serves as a gateway into the block’s courtyard and the centre of activity. It is clearly differentiated from its surroundings. The design of the block establishes an inner park. The Canyon structure displays green space, a programmatic and typological diversity of Berlin.

Block of Diversity – Allotment Gardens in the Mixed-use, City-scale Block – The railway station below an undulating roof serves as the entryway into a super block. It connects an old structure with a new district. You can park your car here, pick up your bike, or continue into the Canyon’s pedestrian area. You enter a square with a market. The town square forms the most important public space. You walk past a rooftop cinema. The sun shines through the light wooden constructions of the vertical farms in a sustainably run institution. The glass façades produce energy here. Admire the bends in the public space as you walk towards the residential building. Here you will find various pavilions with different functions. A school, a gallery, a community centre. You continue through a park intersected by two small reclaimed lakes. The green spaces are not just for recreational use; vegetables are also grown here. The community gardens extend up to the roofs of the surrounding apartments. Green roofs filter the greywater. The residential units are arranged in the clusters with inner courtyards and ground floors; you pass a café and the shops that connect the inner park with the waterfront through the passageways. Downriver, you head towards the site of the concert earlier in the day. It was wonderful. The baroque patterns of the Charlottenburg Garden are visible from the terrace level of your hotel. You imagine what it looked like here 50 years ago. The river estuaries ­reflect the evening sky over Berlin.

Research Island – Complements the unique character of a radial of the star-shaped settlement pattern. The radial’s character is itself determined programmatically by the university, science, and research institutions. The end of the radial forms an island surrounded by the Spree and an artificial water­way. This spatial transformation improves the direct train link to the Berlin ­Brandenburg Airport. The outstanding site on the tip reconnect the radial with the water and the historical district of Köpenick and emphasises its centre. We propose pursuing the area’s transformation near the radial’s axis using a typical axis development scheme and situating a science and research district in the space between the radial and the rail line. Near the river, we propose diversifying the river basin and fostering the emergence of an independent water-­oriented residential area.

River Realms – Public Spaces as a Motif for the Development of a New City ­Typology – Leading towards central Berlin is a traffic artery that travels through a patchwork of different neighbourhoods. Since the conversion from fossil fuels to electric cars, it has become a pleasant boulevard full of pedestrians. One arrives on the island from the south. Once a wasteland, it is now a science city, defined in the east by an organic meander, in the west by an alluvial canal. The railway cuts through the landscape. It is controlled remotely and no longer represents a barrier. The residential blocks along the radial and the old buildings facing the river give way to the park and the water surfaces of the marinas and lagoons. They become low-rise towers and buildings with small footprints, where scientists, researchers, and creatives from all over the world can reside, for a month or a year. There are science incubators and a small programme along the ring road and the main axes. Life pulsates here. The vibrant exchange of ideas calms the water surfaces. Successful start-up projects will be moved from the incubators to larger offices along the railway tracks. Old brick buildings on the town square revitalise culture and trade. Running trails lead through the park around the sports facilities. With a boat you can travel straight from the marina into the heart of Berlin.

Network of Lakes – We wish to breathe new life into the landscape with the development of a recreation and nature network. The landscape area around ­Berlin offers an opportunity to harness existing potential to secure re­cre­ational areas and the development of future technologies close to the city, pa­rticularly in the agricultural areas of the landscape. We suggest strengthening and completing the system of regional parks situated in and around ­Berlin. The parks follow the green plan and connect the Berlin’s radials with the landscape. The structure of the landscape has been fragmented by the excessive commercial exploitation. We propose uncovering and renewing the original landscape network of the lakes. Water is a basic element of the landscape structure as well as a basis for the development of recreational, residential, and indus­trial areas.

Discovered Landscape – Water Archaeology as a Moderator of Living in the Landscape – It is the year 2050. I am driving through the Brandenburg countryside to CO2-neutral Berlin. The once intensively used landscape, subject to erosion from water and wind, is now interwoven with a network of small floodplains and landscape features. The dull abstract vista of the past has been replaced by a linear image of flowing water, avenues, and plantings. Reclaimed waterways provide soil and agriculture with new energy. The archipelago of small lakes, ponds, and wetlands has increased the area’s biodiversity. Berliners from the settlements near the city spend their free time here bird watching, walking through the countryside, and cycling. The number of houses and villages has not changed significantly in the past 50 years. In contrast, sustainable farms have grown. Run-down villages have been redeveloped and complemented with new building. Groups of agricultural buildings with fields and greenhouses have sprung up – self-sufficient communities who harvest their own food and energy.

By 2070, the region will have become a polycentric metropolitan region consisting of compact, interconnected cities. Our competition entry presents a metropolitan region that has moved beyond the prevailing centre-oriented structure to one that clearly differentiates between built-up areas and open landscapes. The region’s compact towns and cities will be an essential feature of an ecological and social urban-planning approach. The proposed projects have a common goal but can be implemented independently. This project-oriented tactic deliberately differs from the possible definition of a single design idea to be implemented for the entire region, finishing at a specific point in time. The projects can be adapted over the course of time and react to shifting constraints and requirements. The implementation can occur quickly or step-by-step.

Project One: Building a City within a City
The focus of the urban development of the metropolitan region will primarily be on the consolidation and strengthening of the existing structure of its compact cities. The restructuring and development of the city or town centres will help to avoid further suburbanisation of the landscape areas. The inner cities and their ‘inner peripheries’ provide exciting potential for official urban development. The Westhafen/Westhafen Canal project in Berlin aims to better integrate such an ‘inner periphery’ into the urban structure at various levels. Public open spaces along the canals and harbour basin make the water edges accessible to everyone. A promenade along the Westhafen Canal links the Charlottenburg Palace gardens with Volkspark Rehberge public park. Urban spaces with squares, mixed-use streets, and small parks populate the new quarters. The proposed buildings can accommodate a variety of uses on their ground floors, which occupy large contiguous areas for trade, logistics, leisure, and events – functions which otherwise tend to be located beyond city centres. This use, supplemented with public functions and housing, also reflects the traditional usage of the site and the neighbouring Moabit district.

Project Two: Metropolitan-Region Network
With the development of an efficient, high-speed rail network, the Berlin-­Brandenburg region will become a polycentric metropolitan region made up of inter­con­nected cities. The extended radial railway links are complemented by a ring system that includes two circular railway lines to form a network system. The network-like development facilitates rapid and flexible movement between the region’s towns and cities. The network can be realised by closing gaps, recommissioning lines, and adding a few new lines.

New mobility and service centres are planned at the intersections of ring and radial railways. They are also linked to the motorway and federal road networks. These new centres combine mixed uses in optimally developed locations that otherwise would most likely be located on the outskirts of cities. Commerce, logistics, and service hubs are linked to the transport system in one place. The mobility and service centres also take on additional functions within the radial garden cities and serve to relieve the functional burden normally placed on inner-city Berlin. In terms of urban planning, there is an opportunity to integrate the locations currently characterised by railway lines, motorways, and residual areas into the urban fabric. The planned large-scale buildings serve as landmarks situated at spatial gaps within a settlement artery (Panketal) or as a defining boundary of a green space (Grünauer Kreuz), or are designed as ‘building sculptures’ in a park-like landscape (Potsdam).

Project Three: Regional Park Berlin Brandenburg and Ring of Garden Cities
The new Berlin-Brandenburg Regional Park encircles Berlin and connects the natural and protected areas in the region. A coherent network of regional landscape spaces, these areas are interconnected via green corridors or ‘landscape bridges’. The regional park is made up of environmentally significant protected areas; agricultural areas, including urban farms; sustainable energy production sites; and areas for sport, leisure, and art. The existing development of the radial settlement arteries is understood as a ring of garden cities. The urban development of the settlement arteries is to proceed according to a coordinated strategy that considers the respective (Berlin) districts and (Brandenburg) communities. The idea of a coherent, star-shaped garden city shifts the focus from competition to cooperation. Existing recognisable boundaries between settlement and landscape are ‘frozen’. Along the edges of the settlement, a linear ring-like public ‘border park’ is created in the transition space between developed and protected areas or areas used for agriculture. Controlled additions, the filling in of gaps, and the clarification of the currently undefined spatial situations offer the opportunity to better define the transition between city and landscape. Specific urban structures, suitable building typologies, and site-specific open spaces create tangible and distinct urban areas and living environments ‘on the border’.

Considerations for the further discussion and planning process: in order to discuss questions about spatial developments in the region, to make decisions about individual projects, and to bring individual decisions together into a ‘whole’ it is necessary to define a common objective for the spatial development of a coherent metropolitan region. Additionally, the project should include the participation of public and private organisations and individuals who examine forms of cooperation, review decision-making structures, and organise public participation.

It makes sense to establish a forum, in which the ideas about the mission statement and future planning goals are discussed and defined. Various individuals from diverse disciplines should be integrated in the planning process to ensure that it is interdisciplinary. Possible discussion themes could be the connection of top-down and bottom-up strategies, the integration of visionary and strategic work, and the inclusion of a ‘design lab’ made up of planners from different disciplines. Additionally, a team should be established to deal with relevant issues and prepare concrete plans.

The main focuses of the forum, for example, could be:

1. To analyse the competition results: What contribution can the urban planning ideas competition make to defining a goal? What are the most important and interesting ideas of the diverse competition entries? Which of these ­ideas can help to define a future model for the spatial development of the metropolitan region? What does the analysis mean with respect to the functional-­programmatic, social, cultural, environmental, and economic aspects of the competition entries for spatial development?
2. To consider future spatial systems: Which spatial qualities are important for which groups? What is the relationship between centres and peripheries? Is suburbanisation with spatial qualities possible or should the urbanisation of suburban settlements be pursued? What are the limits of urbanisation? Public urban space or public countryside? What is meant by density and diversity?
3. To engage in the design process, including case studies and test designs as experiments: this includes researching designs from various disciplines for scholarly input; defining the importance of the design process for the future metropolitan region. Related topics could include public space, the relationship between city and country, the relationship between built-up space and nature, the connection between architecture and infrastructure, and so on.

Large-scale Implementation
In line with our strategy, we have selected eight urban models that have demonstrated their durability and liveability with respect to their social, aesthetic, and ecological qualities and combined them to create a large-scale ‘Collage City’. This enables us to react appropriately to different urban contexts. The models we have selected are: Ebenezer Howard’s ideas for a garden city, which could counteract the region’s suburban sprawl and create green neighbourhoods with urban qualities; the organic perimeter block Eliel Saarinen sug­gested in his plans for Greater Helsinki, which would help to further develop ­Berlin’s successful urban texture; the large complexes by Fernand Pouillon, which provide a reference point for densification and urban upgrading of prefabricated and large housing developments on the outskirts of Berlin; Auguste Perret’s plans for the reconstruction of Le Havre, which demonstrate possible ways to create new sub-centres, albeit on a larger scale; the reinterpretation of the ideal design for a metropolis by Otto Wagner, with its gridded and hierarchised urban spaces, to create new medium-sized towns along the radial arteries; the industrial city of Tony Garnier, which has the potential to help develop less dense, green sub-centres in the Berlin area; the elongated perimeter blocks of ­Hendrik Petrus Berlage’s Plan Zuid for Amsterdam, which would create the natural connection to the closed perimeter block structure of Berlin while improving the quality of the flats; and the closed perimeter block development of Ildefonso Cerdà for Eixample, which is the inspiration for new, mixed-use districts in central Berlin – for example, along Tempelhofer Feld or Natur-Park Südgelände in Schöneberg. The new towns will be linked to the existing system of large radial arteries and will acquire spatial, functional, and transport links to Berlin’s centre.

Infrastructural Topics and Models – The Revival of the Street as a Passageway
The atmospheric nature of the inner city is characterised by the broad streets and block structure inherited from the Gründerzeit era. Both have remained adaptable to changing mobility requirements. We do not believe that the use of private vehicles has come to an end. Nevertheless, it will be increasingly characterised by automated and environmentally friendly vehicles that take up less space. To help combat climate change, the resulting freed-up areas will be used to add more green space to the city in the form of linear parks, a comprehensive network of bike paths, and improved pedestrian zones.

The City of Green Rings
Over the course of three major infrastructure projects, the city’s pre-existing rings and radials are transformed into urban landscaped promenades. The space under the elevated railways, for example at the intersection of Skalitzer Strasse and Schönhauser Allee, will now be used for private vehicles. Linear parks will replace the current traffic lanes, and an inner ring would ideally link all central districts for cyclists and public transport users.

As a second measure, the city’s ring road, which acts as a barrier to the urban space, will be transformed into an urban ring promenade. It will remain a main metropolitan artery but in a new form. The current width can be significantly reduced, as the new traffic it accommodates will be almost emission-free. The newly vacated areas will be used for the linear perimeter development of the current firewall areas. There is a potential for densification here, which far exceeds that of the perimeter development along Tempelhofer Feld proposed a few years ago. A circular railway concentrically connects the towns in the Brandenburg region and forms a strong, central identity-endowing network.

Densification of the City Centre
The predicted population growth and the urgent need for living space require the re-evaluation of possible places for new living quarters besides the obvious but scarce solution of vacant lots. Above all, the use of the existing allotment gardens, as well as a partial development of the Tempelhof and Tegel airport brownfield sites, are possible answers.

Three Concrete Sub-areas
Schöneberger Südgelände: Construction of a New Railway Station District at Südkreuz
The Südgelände in Schöneberg has been an important topic in Berlin’s urban development discussion since the 1911 competition for it, which Bruno Möhring won with a typical Berlin closed perimeter block development.

The largest contiguous allotment garden in Berlin offers enormous potential for the development of a 3,037,245-square-metre urban district, even with the preservation of the Natur-Park Südgelände nature reserve. The redesign of Innsbrucker Platz and the alteration of the Schöneberg motorway interchange effortlessly weave the new district into the neighbouring districts of ­Friedenau, Tempelhof, and Schöneberg. The increased scale of the block structures is the only change in the urban footprint here. The Südkreuz railway station will have a proper urban forecourt and a direct connection to the new district. The urban ‘texture’ is derived from the organic perimeter block, as presented by Eliel Saarinen in his plans for Greater Helsinki and Tallinn. It allows for the further development of the Gründerzeit block structure and, with its ­smaller block profiles, avoids the problems of the Hobrecht Plan design with its narrow courtyards. We also propose a new eave height of 30 metres, which allows for densification. The high percentage of soil sealing is offset by green and usable flat roofs. For this we adapt the hanging gardens and the atmospheric appearance of the ­Novocientos and the Città animata in Milan, which, as a modern green city, provides rich inspiration for the design of a new quarter in the heart of Berlin.

Garden City Großziethen: A Mixed-use Residential Area on the Outskirts of the City
On Berlin’s southern border between Rudow and Lichtenrade, the city’s fabric is closed and strengthened by the partial redesigning of Schönefeld’s ­Groß­ziethen district. The result is a new garden city occupying an area of over 16 square kilometres. In order to counter the suburban sprawl, urban densification is proposed. Ebenezer Howard’s ‘ward and centre’ principle is adapted and integrated into the urban layout. Existing road connections, such as Karl-Marx-Strasse, will be expanded and integrated into the urban plan. In contrast to the first garden cities, we choose a higher density, which decreases as one moves away from the ‘central park’, an area roughly a quarter of the size of New York’s Central Park, towards the more urban areas with connections to the city. The park is framed by 60-metre-high residential buildings, similar to those in the Hansaviertel, followed by a closed perimeter block development; this is based on the Röda Bergen housing development in Stockholm with respect to scale and design. The urban structure slowly shifts to an open perimeter block development based on an adaptation of the Baumgartner houses in Basel with a few standardised types. Beyond the green ring is an open perimeter block structure with multi-family townhouses, such as those in Striesen, Dresden. Unlike in the urban core, sloping roofs are proposed here; they emphasize the small-scale character and the more village-like atmosphere.

Lakeside City Königs Wusterhausen: Urban Expansion of Second-tier Cities
If we wish to provide living space for all, then large housing estates should no longer be unthinkable. An important requirement, however, is that such structures are built to high standards, both in terms of their architecture and open space. The impressive large housing estates of Fernand Pouillon are the reference here for densification and the upgrading of prefabricated tower blocks and large estates on the outskirts of Berlin. The loose yet clear and hierarchical arrangement of the large-scale buildings enables the organic integration of nature and topography, the existing lake, and the connection to the axis from the Königs Wusterhausen sub-centre with its prefabricated buildings. Considered interfaces between square and park become attractive places thanks to the diverse uses of the ground-floor spaces. One such identity-endowing place is the star-shaped complex with a central green park, which becomes an essential reference point. The new shape also contributes to the establishment of the area’s identity; new layers contribute to an improved quality of life.

Concept and Planning
BBRS is based on a clearly structured and distinctive planning vision: a ring that has a diameter of 55 kilometres, a length of 178 kilometres and a width of 4 kilometres and that is designed to accommodate all future urban and landscape development in the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region. The urban centres of economic, social, and cultural activity of this polycentric model are located at the intersections of the ring axis with the radial railway lines and the streets of Berlin’s historic star-shaped settlement structure. The Ring City model described here represents an alternative to urban sprawl and the simultaneous migration to rural areas. The concentration of urban growth along the ring or periphery enables the creation of a clear city edge, for both Berlin proper and the growing Ring City. The model shields the inner landscape between central Berlin and the Ring City from further urban sprawl and ensures the preservation of the surrounding Brandenburg landscape.

A further advantage of the ring model is the system’s high level of flexibility, which allows the development and implementation of long-term scenarios. The first step to this end should be to incorporate this concept in a BBRS master plan, which ought to include precise and binding planning requirements. These include designating the individual city fragments and landscape units which define the backbone and the structure of the Ring City: the Parkway, Gaps, Large Structures, Nodes, Islands, and Transit Landscapes. The further development and local planning of the Parkway, its residential and commercial areas, as well as of the open spaces, can subsequently be carried out by the public planning authorities and specialist planners based on the comprehensive master plan.

For the planning process, close cooperation between the urban and regional authorities with respect to the entire metropolitan region is necessary and should be accompanied and overseen by the appropriate individuals or entities at the various levels and in the specific areas. These include Brandenburg’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Planning (MIL), Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, and Climate Protection (MLUK), and Ministry of Economy, Labour, and Energy (MWAE); Berlin’s Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing (SenSW) and Senate Department for Environment, Transport, and Climate Protection (SenUVK); and representatives of the Berlin-Brandenburg Joint Regional Planning Department. The BBRS master plan should also be integrated into the joint planning instrument of the ­Berlin-Brandenburg Development Plan (Landesentwicklungsplan Hauptstadtregion, LEP HR). Multi-disciplinary teams of experts made up of, among others, urban planners, architects, landscape architects, traffic planners, and environmental planners, should design land use and development plans at the municipal level with the involvement of the local population.

Discussion and Integration
The planning processes mentioned above must be united in a body that ensures fruitful communication among all involved parties and the development of a mutually acceptable implementation concept decided on by the demo­cratic processes. The format of the International Building Exhibitions (IBA) for the development of new planning methods for urban and re­gional development has proven itself worthy time and again. Since the IBA Emscher Park (1989–1999) and IBA Fürst-Pückler-Land (2000–2010), planning-design issues and instruments for the structural change of entire regions have been developed and ecological, social, and economic issues addressed. In ­Berlin-Brandenburg the IBAs of 1957 and 1987 were of great importance. The experience with the International Garden Exhibition (IGA) 2017 ­Berlin-Marzahn and the Federal Garden Show (BUGA) 2001 in Potsdam are similar examples in the field of landscape design. The conception, integration, and communication processes successfully executed at many IBAs in recent decades can also be applied here. This would involve continuing and developing such experience and integrating new digital possibilities for an IBA Berlin-Brandenburg.

In addition to an IBA project advisory board at the administrative level, the involvement of regional, national, and international experts is recommended. This can be done through an IBA advisory board, although other theme specific approaches are also conceivable, such as planning workshops or archi­tecture and landscape architecture competitions. Valuable partners could include the universities in the metropolitan region, the architectural associations of Berlin and Brandenburg, the German Academy for Urban Development and Regional Planning Berlin-Brandenburg, and the Future Berlin Foundation. Concrete suggestions for innovative forms of housing or the designing of areas in which to work, do business and dwell could be developed in an IBA Berlin-Brandenburg. An International Garden Show (IGA) could ex­emplify the possibilities for the development of open space, including future goals concerning recreation sites, sustainable agricultural production, and the preservation of valuable landscape elements. A specific aim of the BBRS, for example, could be to start a collective brainstorming process for reviving older identity-endowing symbols in the Ring City among political decision-­makers, municipal and urban planning agencies, specialist planners, and the local population. Another could be to develop new concepts for areas that were formerly used for military or industrial purposes.

Realisation and Coordination
In the implementation of this project, it is vital that all important planning projects meet the requirements of the master plan. Examples include those dedicated to land use, transport routes, dwellings, utilities, and industrial areas. To this end, a superordinate planning coordination body with particular powers should be established. Similar coordination efforts would also be conceivable; for instance, the supplemental oversight of Berlin’s urban renewal over the past 30 years by the Berlin Senate and its authorities. Funds from federal and state governments, as well as support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), could be obtained to finance and market BBRS. A team of economists and marketing specialists in the planning coordination office would be desirable for these projects. It would also be possible to enlist the services of a public operating company, similar to the state-owned ­Grün-­Berlin group, which is responsible for the planning, implementation, and operation of several public green spaces in Berlin, and most for recently the IGA 2017 Berlin-Marzahn.

In the initial planning stage, existing centres located at the intersections of the star-shaped settlement arteries and the Ring City should be strengthened and new comparable locations created. It is important to define hierarchies and functional focal points together; to find a balance between cities of higher and lower importance; and to achieve an appropriate distribution of the catalysts for economic and cultural activity over the entire Ring City. In the following stages, the gradual expansion of residential, work, and recreational districts would take place. As would the gradual networking of the landscapes along transit and transport routes to superordinate green corridors. This would culminate in the creation of an extensive system of parks in the metro­polis. A joint, cross-state, and interdisciplinary discourse involving all parties engaged in the concept and planning, as well as the use of superordinate planning bodies for its implementation, is indispensable for the successful realisation of Berlin Brandenburg Ring City BBRS.

One such road is the European route E30, which runs from Ireland to Great Britain, through the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and Belarus to Omsk in Russia. In our design, this road serves as a conceptual development axis for the region. The development of the surrounding areas and towns, which have the potential to become new local centres, is of fundamental importance. The local centres, in turn, can become local agglomerations with nearby settlements and thus form a stable system of efficiently located and economically interconnected areas. These areas could be combined by developing industrial, cultural, social and labour relations, as well as social and technical infrastructures (when possible), and shared land resources. This naturally implies, among other things, the development of a coordinated multi-modal transport network with a focus on public transport (at the level of regional and local agglomerations) and of a pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in cities and settlements.

In accordance with the competition stipulations, we selected three sub-areas for comprehensive development from the 10 suggested topics:
Housing construction to the east of the city: Köpenicker Chaussee (Berlin)
Renovation of Potsdam’s Centre East district (Berlin-Brandenburg)
The creation and expansion of a new regional centre: ‘Airea’ (Aero City), which is adjacent to the east–west development axis (Berlin-Brandenburg)

Sub-area 1
In our selection of a sub-area in Berlin, we were guided by open-access data on development plans for the urban districts. Our idea was to choose an area that has no development plans (or none that is officially sanctioned) and the prerequisites for creating a mixed-use urban environment that offers comfortable living conditions and, where possible, the construction of diverse types of housing. The concept respects the current planning structure with existing road network and its cultural heritage. The historic buildings are to be converted into community centres (centres of activity), including commercial markets, cultural centres, and such. New residential areas are created by a network of green and attractive transport and pedestrian connections. The well-equipped waterfront with a marina and open spaces for commercial markets and public events will be the main draw for residents and visitors. The concept envisages the residential area as containing different types of housing (from apartment buildings to individual townhouses) and related facilities.

Sub-area 2
The Centre East (Zentrum Ost) district is located on the edge of Potsdam city centre between Potsdam Central Station and Nutheschnellstrasse expressway. This area stretches along the Havel and borders Nuthepark and the celebrated Park Babelsberg. We see great potential for development in the ­Centre East. The redevelopment of this residential area will help meet the growing need for housing in the region (by increasing living space and introducing a variety of dwelling types). It will also have a positive effect on investment in urban development and promote the creation of a new settlement that is integrated into urban fabric. These things will improve the quality of the urban environment and offer new opportunities for further investment in the city. In addition, the redeveloped residential area will be a source of additional tax revenue (property taxes and income taxes). The project presents a proposal for the renewal of the district. A gradual development, together with a considerate and sustainable adjustment of the planning structure, will ulti­mately enable the creation of a self-sufficient urban environment. This area will be ­characterised by a strong social infrastructure, numerous functions, green spaces, and a successful symbiosis between the built environment and undeveloped open space.

Sub-area 3
This concept proposes the development of the area between the A10 motorway (part of European route E30) and the southern border of Berlin. The area comprises the municipalities of Blankenfelde-Mahlow and Schönefeld, including the BER International Airport, which is currently under construction. The municipalities have good transport links to the city centre, land reserves for new buildings, and potential for development thanks to existing natural and recreation areas. The flight paths of the new airport and the water-treatment facilities in Wassmannsdorf must be factored in, and this results in significant planning restrictions for the area’s development. A new local centre, Airea, is part of the proposed development concept for the Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region along the east–west planning axis (A10 motorway). The centre will consist of three smaller centres.

The first small centre is Schönefeld (the gateway to Berlin), a mixed-use area. It includes office and administrative centres with subsidiaries of international companies; residential areas (including rental apartments) and associated infrastructures and hotels; goods distribution hubs; and eco-friendly production complexes.

The second small centre is the district of Großziethen. It will become a new residential area that borders the Berlin districts of Lichtenrade, Buckow, and Rudow. The area is to contain low-rise buildings and detached houses, thereby seamlessly adjoining Berlin’s urban fabric.

The third small centre will be the district of Dahlewitz + Groß Kienitz, a multi­functional residential area that is to be established within the existing settlements of Dahlewitz and Groß Kienitz. The area between the two towns, which is to be the site of the ‘Airea’ (Aero City), has a number of exceptional features. These include its proximity to the A10 motorway and thus the E30; good transport links to the airport and to the centre (Dahlewitz railway station); production facilities (Rolls-Royce Deutschland) and goods distribution hubs; and abundant recreation areas, such as the Groß Kienitz golf course. These are a good basis for creating a balanced urban environment that offers a compact, diverse, and comfortable lifestyle. The availability of work and recreation districts within walking distance of each other, as well as diverse types of housing and well-developed social infrastructures, make this area attractive to both current and future residents.

Our predictions and suggestions are based on an analysis of the location’s history, the current situation, and our professional knowledge. We are convinced that in each subsequent phase, additional studies should be carried out that correspond to that specific phase of the project’s development. In the future, it will be important that a detailed assessment of the economic and urban development potential, including socio-cultural research, is carried out for each of these areas so that a comprehensive list of restrictions, development requirements, and needs can be compiled. This will provide the oppor­tunity to draft a usage programme and a concept for the area’s development, since these are the most important core data for further planning. We hope our visions and development principles for the Berlin-Brandenburg region, and in particular for the three sub-areas described here, will receive interest and support, and that qualitative transformations of the region and city will soon begin.

We have restored the separation of city and countryside. We have found a way to divide the city and countryside: by separating and connecting the landscapes. Landscapes are characterised externally. Within cities, landscapes appear as city-bound outside spaces. Beyond and between cities, landscapes appear as landscape-bound outside spaces. The borders of the cities have been redrawn. Cities do not stop at their borders; their essence begins there. The borders of the landscapes have been redrawn. The landscapes do not stop at the borders; their essence begins there.

A city consists of neighbourhoods. These are are mixed, independent ­areas predominantly shaped by interior spaces, and are appropriately scaled. Neighbourhoods also have borders. City-bound outside spaces can appear within neighbourhoods or as borders between them. Several neighbourhoods form a district, several districts a city, and several cities a metropolis. Cities are red; landscapes are blue. The metropolis is a constellation of cities.

The old city no longer knew any transitions between city and countryside. The landscapes were increasingly usurped. The old city had lost its structure. A new phenomenon emerges: nature connects the cities – landscape. Landscapes separate the cities and towns. The periphery has become a city, the ‘intermediate city’ a landscape, the urban landscape a city or a landscape. The areas characterised by trade, industry, and suchlike have disappeared. These districts have become landscapes or neighbourhoods; they have become a city, the city as an amalgamation. The cities are increasing located within the newly drawn borders. They keep their distance from one another. The landscapes move in and through them. The cities are becoming denser so that the landscapes can grow. The landscapes increase within the new borders: more landscape, more city! A city reveals the shape of its landscape, the districts the characters of their city, the neighbourhoods the atmospheres of their districts. The district has an appropriate scale. The districts are manageable. The city is liveable.

I/VIII Metropolis and II/VIII Cities and Landscapes
The red and blue plan presents a phenomenological mapping of ­spaces. It shows the spatial differentiation as well as the connection between architecture, city, and countryside. By showing topological and typological foundations that subsequently determine the analytical and conceptual prerequisites for the design, the process can be described and understood as a method and as an instrument. This is where the design of the landscapes and the cities with their districts, neighbourhoods, squares and streets, courtyards, rooms and paths, and apertures, begins…

The red and blue plan presents a phenomenological mapping of ­spaces. It shows the spatial differentiation as well as the connection between architecture, city, and countryside. By showing topological and typological foundations that subsequently determine the analytical and conceptual prerequisites for the design, the process can be described and understood as a method and as an instrument. This is where the design of the landscapes and the cities with their districts, neighbourhoods, squares and streets, courtyards, rooms and paths, and apertures, begins…

Architectural spaces, or interiors, defined by the structural boundaries of walls – for example, apertures, rooms, courtyards, streets and squares – are classified as ‘warm’ spaces and are generally shown in red. Landscape- and city-bound exterior spaces – areas marked by their vastness, openness, and ‘emptiness’ – are not architectural spaces. They appear on the map in blue as ‘cold’ spaces. Examples include landscapes, parks, settlements, streets, railway lines, and brownfield sites. They are generally categorised as ‘cold’ spaces and represented in blue.

Red signifies city-bound interior spaces. The different tones of red reflect the degree of enclosure (dark and medium red) and possible extensions (light red). Blue: Landscape and city-bound outside spaces are represented by shades of blue. Areas that can no longer be expanded or eliminated are represented in dark blue. Lines represent ‘passive’ borders, such as infrastructures, bodies of water, and so on.

III/III Metropolitan Typology
Although the ideography of Stella (I and II) is characterised by the romantic (i.e. fantastical) idea of a ‘city of cities’, its exemplary elaborations (III to VIII) follow the rational (i.e. reasonable) idea of a metropolitan typology that accounts for the new scale of the future metropolis with a generic character.

We can only counter the argument that this ideography is much too optimistic in an idealistic manner. And we can only counter the argument that this typology is too pessimistic in realistic manner. Yet it is precisely this ambivalence between fantasy and reason that defines the idea, programme, and concept of Stella. Therefore, from the outset we did not to look for the three locations for possible interventions, but first devised three metropolitan typologies and only then looked for the appropriate locations for their implementation…

III.I. The Porous Monolith as a Vertical Neighbourhood: Kreuzberg
The density in the city of cities steadily increases, even in the older neighbourhoods. For the few districts that remained open, laws were overridden, dimensions increased, and new plans drawn up. The initial resistance to this was gradually dissipated and settled through politically initiated participatory processes. According to the Metropolitan typology, monolithic buildings [about 211 metres tall] appear as standalone hybrid structures. General facilities related to housing, care, employment, education, culture, sport, mobility, etc. were inscribed in the functional disposition of the typology. Seen in relation to the ‘urban capacity’ of a smaller district, the further consumption of land was deemed justifiable. Such monoliths are part of the public and private spaces of the city, the city of spaces. In the red and blue maps of Stella, their forms appear in red, as they are generally defined by their interiors. Mono­lithic structures embody the new scale of the metropolis.

III.II. The Assembled Towers and the Open Field: Tempelhof
The fragmented and discontinuous peripheral areas of the old city were gradually reigned in and given form – internally through streets and squares internally, and externally as fields. Many different ‘urban cultural landscapes’ were seen as these fields. The peripheries were urbanised, and the peripheries became cities. According to the Metropolitan typology, towers appear to­gether with fields. The towers outline the fields and refer back to the city with their plinth bases and block structure. The height of the towers [about 211 metres] is determined by the size of the fields. Fields are always outdoor spaces that appear as cultivated urban landscapes. Fields belong to the public, towers to the public and private space of the city, the city of spaces. In the red-blue mapping, the towers appear in red, since they are generally constituted by their interior spaces, and the fields in blue, as their design is generally constituted by their exterior spaces. Towers and fields embody the new scale of the metropolis.

III.III. The Blue Block or Urban Nature: Wartenberg
Stella could gradually overcome the apparent contrast between two tra­di­tional ideas: between a more ‘rustic’ way of life alongside and within the natural world and a more ‘urban’ lifestyle with its public streets and squares. We gave up on urban landscapes, instead separating the city and the landscape and re-joining them so they complement one another: this is the urban nature of Stella. Reflecting the Metropolitan typology, the large blocks incorporate outdoor spaces. Tall buildings define the city-bound outside spaces. The height of the buildings [around 42–84 metres] is determined by the width of the enclosed areas. Here, the enclosed ‘interior’ areas are exterior spaces and function as ‘urban cultural landscapes’. Examples of uses include cemeteries, allotment gardens, parks, forests, pastures, and meadows. Between the blocks, streets and squares seem like interior spaces. The buildings border streets and squares as well as the landscapes. The ‘interior’ enclosed ­s­paces are public, while the blocks – made up of the buildings on the borders – are the private spaces of the city, the city of spaces. In the red-blue maps of ­Stella, the houses on the edges of the blocks and the streets and squares between the blocks appear in red, since they are generally constituted by their interior spaces, and the fields in blue, as their design is generally constituted by their exterior spaces. Blue blocks embody the new scale of the metropolis.

Metropolis Berlin: the profile of Berlin city centre as the inspiring heart of a vital metropolis is heightened. An urban-climatic, socially conscious densification intensifies the urban atmosphere.

Garden Domain Brandenburg: a relationship between park, paths, and visual connections is created in the area of the outer ring road. Forests and bodies of water are enhanced, regional parks are linked, biodiversity is pro­moted, and ecologically reformed agriculture and forestry are harmoniously embedded in the Brandenburg landscape. There are expansion options for the ­Garden Domain, including existing in biosphere reserves to the northeast as a trans-­European project with Szczecin/Poland, and to the southeast towards Cottbuser Ostsee lake.

In-between City: between the metropolis and the Garden Domain, various functions and environments are possible; these are determined individually and locally, free of guidelines from above.

Elevated railway: a new elevated railway system replaces the S-Bahn and regional railway networks and provides the city and region with maximum comfort and efficiency. Other transport links are created over or along motorways and A-roads, which avoids further land consumption.

Berlin’s Historical Centre as a Sub-space: In Search of Lost Time
‘All these memories added to one another now formed a single mass, but one could still distinguish between them – between the oldest, and those that were more recent, born of a fragrance, and then those that were only memories belong to another person from whom I had learned them – if not fissures, if not true faults, at least that veining, that variegation of colouring, which in certain rocks, in certain marbles, reveal differences in origin, in age, in “formation.”’(Marcel Proust, ‘In Search of Lost Time’)

The ideological weight of Berlin’s historical centre is dispelled in favour of the primacy of its urban quality. The central and symmetrical staging of the ‘GDR capital’ is vanquished, as is the nostalgic idea of a ‘reconstruction of the old town’. Buildings worth preserving are complemented by new structures, streets, and public spaces. Buildings classified as expendable will be made available for development over time. Institutions that were once lo­cated in the historical Mitte, such as the synagogue in Rosenstrasse or the Central Market Halls around the train station at Alexanderplatz, are repurposed or reinterpreted. The TV Tower is integrated into a sculpturally coordinated high-rise ensemble. New establishments of high culture are changing the currently dull commercial atmosphere. The Garden Domain Ferries, which deli­berately have no schedule, connect the centre with the Garden Domain and offer users a chance to slow down.

The New Urban District of Tempelhofer Feld as a Sub-space: Urbanism as a Resource
More than simply satisfying predicted space requirements, which naturally fluctuate over time, the goal of this proposed new district is to further de­velop Berlin’s exciting and charismatic character: animated urbanity promotes efficiency and sustainability, social exchange and cohesion, and experimentation, as well as providing inspiration. The prerequisites for its development are the seamless linking of high-quality public spaces; the seemless connection to comfortable public transport; street-level zones suitable for retail, gas­tronomy, and other services; the conscious cultivation of the city’s public sphere and its clear demarcation from the private realm.

As in our plans for Berlin’s historical centre, we propose closed block structures and classic street and square spaces for the Tempelhofer Feld district. Strictly controlled plot sizes create a lively cityscape and allow for a mixed ownership structure. The contrasting height gradation of the new buildings permits the densification of diverse functions, atmospheres, and spatial qualities, and produces a lively and pleasant cityscape. In the spatial dialogue with the historic airport building, a new, flexible football stadium for Berlin can be built (it can be converted into a large park-side stage, made possible via sliding grandstands). In the southern section, the A100 motorway and the S-Bahn line is replaced by the new Ring Boulevard, which encircles the city centre and integrates all modes of transport in a single, spacious urban area. The centrally located Garden Domain Market Hall offers local, sustainably produced products.

The Garden Domain as a Sub-space of Brandenburg / Luisen Landscape: The Discovery of Slowness
‘Now John looked more closely at the St James clock. The dial was painted on the stone on the edge of the thick tower. There was only one hand, and it had to be advanced three times a day. John had heard a remark that linked him to the stubborn clockwork. He did not understand it, but ever since he thought the clock had something to do with him.’ (Sten Nadolny, ‘The Discovery of Slowness’)

With Berlin’s urban heart beating ever faster, a complementary counter pole of emphatic ‘slowness’ is needed. The basic idea of the Garden Domain is exemplified by an area northwest of Potsdam: the area, which is almost completely surrounded by water, is still part of Potsdam’s World Heritage and has a prevailing west wind, which is important for the ventilation and cooling of the city. Thanks to the new elevated railway over the A10, the area has good transport links and thus constitutes a steppingstone into the Garden Domain.

A peculiarity of this area is its history associated with the Paretz Palace, a former country estate: built for Friedrich Wilhelm III and Queen Luise in 1798, it was exceptionally modest for the time. The royal couple’s legendary ‘modern’ spirit is reflected in the relaxed serenity of the Havel landscape and the landscape gardens by ­Lenné. The latter adorned not only the royal palaces, but also countless larger and smaller estates in Margraviate of Brandenburg, ­places which are often subject to decay today. The concept of the Garden ­Domain includes both saving this cultural heritage from disappearing and revitalising it. In homage to its history, we propose the name ‘Luisen Landscape’ ­(Luisenlandschaft) for the Garden Domain park near Paretz.

Like the Garden Domain as a whole, Luisen Landscape includes ecological and climate-related aspects; an aesthetic dimension that includes culture, history, leisure, and relaxation; and areas for a renaissance of the small-scale vegetable and fruit cultivation that has traditionally shaped this region. A Matisse-­inspired landscape installation of lavender fields flows over the gentle topography. This imaginatively unites all three themes and forms an unmistakable landmark for the area.

A ‘Garden Domain Academy’ in the north teaches visitors about nature and the landscape. An Innovation Campus for research and development with future-oriented jobs for the region will be built directly to the east of the ele­vated railway station. Garden Domain Ferries connect the park and the Garden Domain with the city and invite visitors to rediscover slowness. Experiencing scenic beauty can prompt people to emotionally bond with places, stir an interest in nature and history, motivate engagement in efforts to promote an intact ecology, and provide a home environment worth living in.

Realisation Strategies: A Culture of Local and Personal Responsibility and ­National Lighthouse Projects
In Berlin today major projects are emerging – projects which ignore the scale of the city created during the Gründerzeit and render Berlin interchangeable with other world cities. Brandenburg’s agriculture is also becoming in­creasingly concentrated and industrialised. Razed landscapes and the devaluation of soil, water, and biodiversity have been the result. For inner cities and surrounding areas, we therefore advocate a shift back to an intelligent, small-scale approach and personal responsibility. In the new city districts, we have planned a maximum size for plots. Leasehold models can help to maintain the influence of society’s need for land use in the long term. In the surrounding area and region, we propose the return of self-rule at the village level and the division of oversized farms into manageable units.

Metropolis Berlin and Garden Domain Brandenburg make special demands that require a strong cultural awareness in society, politics, and administrations. Lighthouse projects help create impulses and shift prevailing tides. In this sense, Metropolis Berlin and Garden Domain Brandenburg could be developed as long-term national lighthouse projects: spatially limited special zones, in which a system of specific priorities prevails, and where excep­tional characteristics quickly become clear. The brighter these projects shine, the more they influence the general perception of them. In an ideal scenario, they gradually create the necessary conditions for their own success.