The nine lives of Bar25

Will bar25 ever die? Let’s hope not, as long as it moves with the times. We all shed a tear at the saddest music in the world contest last year which closed bar25 once and for all and seemed to mark the turn to a gentrified Berlin. But the subculture that has become a victim of its own appeal, and which has ironically and beautifully become the trademark of the city is fighting back. An perhaps most surprisingly of all, landing on it’s feet!

May 1st 2010 will mark a small victory for the endangered species of locations that, like Mauerpark, are being recognised for their cultural worth. A cultural worth which caused the MediaSpree development to want to be there in the first place. So go figure why someone would want to park their ass right on top of what they covet and supress what makes them look good.

So, May 1st, and another season blasts off for Bar25. Personally, I just like to go in the early evening and have a beer on the swing overlooking the Spree.

If you really can’t wait, then you can listen to their radio online here and get into that spring mood cause it’s 13 degrees today and now I’m off to the park!

Filed under: architecture, music, outdoors

The Jedi of Mauerpark

Where does Saturday morning quality-time with your kids ever mean spraypainting walls in all legal splendour? Mauerpark of course!! This morning I just had to stop for a chat upon seeing this sight. “They are like Jedi knights with spraycans for lightsabers. When they are done, and tomorrow, when they’ll wake up, it will be another world” He tells me. It looks so liberating, I want to saber the wall too now…

I misanthropically shunned Mauerpark after my first visit there about a year and a half ago, as it is the Sunday rendez-vous par excellence in Berlin, and on a sunny October Sunday it choked and disappointed my desire for green space as every inch of grass was occupied by hoards of beached berliners, the excentric, vintage-wearing types that I usually love. In small doses. I vowed only to return for the flea market. Someone once told me the strongest realtionships are those that start as dislike and migrate to like, and in that respect I am now lovingly over-protective of Mauerpark. All week long it has its moments, and moods and changing demographics. It is the theatre for so many of the city’s outdoor activities and I have so much I want to say about it that I have decided to do a focus on the park in future posts, especially in light of the changes it faces in the coming months.

As I write, Mauerpark is at the centre of a battle that represents the changing Berlin: gentrification. This is a huge topic that fascinates me, and one rock I definitely stand on is the crucial role of green spaces in any capital. In the top 5 reasons for my love of Berlin, one is without a doubt the abundance of green. The Tagesspiegel today features an article about the compromise that is being reached over planning permissions around Mauerpark, and as I understand the park is to become… bigger!!! I’m keeping an eye on this, I hope Berlin will confirm its place in my mind as the capital city that thinks. That is, if it is ready to make decisions that are not solely led by real-estate developpers.

You can befriend Mauerpark on Facebook and checkout what’s going on online here.

Filed under: architecture, outdoors

Elmgreen & Dragset, home.

The duo have renovated and settled.
In Neukölln.
In a former water pumping station.
With the help of architects Nils Wenk and Jan Wiese.

The result is stunning, and their art collection is truly at home.

See and read more in the NYT

Filed under: architecture, design

Recycling Neukölln

Use the potential of your city! Recycling Neukölln is a project which raises many interesting questions about a city’s urban ownership and interaction with the local population, a theme which is central and typical to Berlin’s history and development, for example Kolonie Wedding‘s collaboration with Degewo to utilise empty commercial space, or the initiative of Experimentcity as part of Europa 2009 Year of Creativity and Innovation. Recycling Neukölln is presented by Technical University Berlin at the 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, selected for their Parallel Cases exhibition, along with submissions from 28 other universities. One of these will receive the Parallel Cases Biennale Award, which aims to encourage creative thinking within urban projects that promote social cohesion.

Filed under: architecture