methods

+1 +3 +9

Infrastructure as architecture has the potential to create unexpected urban effects that shape a city or “microcity” for public activity.

The Flughafen Tempelhof deals with vacant, yet monumental space. By furthering the ecological and spatial quality of a vast underutilized space, the microcity draws users from the city of Berlin and elsewhere. The population loss since the fall of the Berlin wall has affected the growth of the city economically and socially; the "Tempelhof: GRUN stadt + ORGANIC city" focuses on the need for the constant renewal of public space.

Flexibility of program allows for a constantly changing dynamic of place. The incorporation of separate entities that adapt to the needs of a fluctuating economy creates a dialogue between the shifting interests and needs of a society and the environment. The stagnant consumerist developments that currently exist in Berlin have resulted in a lack of identity for the past and existing generations of the city. The Tempelhof site contradicts itself by providing ample historic context under a seemingly blank slate. The opportunities for development overpower the site, leading to the conclusion that no one thing should exist on the site indefinitely. The flux of program will enable the site to evolve with the users overtime as the needs of those users and the city mature within an ecological framework. The framework connects the microcity of the Tempelhof with the surrounding urban landscape of Berlin. The terminal building becomes the link between the hardscape of the city and the vegetated softscape of the Tempelhof airfield park. The terminal building and park can be understood from the scale of the microcity as well as within the context of the macro, Berlin.

Architecture is...

an organism, a living system. As architecture matures with the use of ecological technologies, it evolves into a creature that consumes, produces, grows, and dies. Architecture is slowly becoming animate with the potential for artificial intelligence; it responds to the environment and its inhabitants. Humans project themselves into architecture, resulting in built works reflecting human characteristics.

death strip