Photo: urban fragment observatory. Lena Löhnert, Florine Schüschke, Jeanne Astrup-Chauvaux and Sebastian Díaz de León (from left to right) with models of the houses threatened with demolition on Kurfürstenstraße and the Urania. All four are holding models of the buildings in front or above their heads.

ABRISSSSSSTOP – URBAN INTERVENTION

Urban Architecture leads to the either the question of demolition or the repurpose of existing buildings. ABRISSSSSSTOP offers new solutions to old problems.

#ABRISSSSSSTOP

The collective ufo ufo – urban fragment observatory organizes a demonstration with accompanying exhibition and film projection on Saturday, February 25th. It starts at 4:00 pm at the corner of Kurfürstenstraße / Potsdamer Straße in front of the LSD department store. VISITING: ABRISS is supported by the Projektfonds Urbane Praxis. Residents and supporters from Berlin’s urban society are cordially invited to join the demonstration.

RECONSTRUCTION INSTEAD OF DEMOLITION!

Six buildings are to be demolished in the immediate vicinity of Kurfürstenstrasse: A state- owned office building at Urania 4-10, three other office and hotel buildings on Urania, and the Woolworth and LSD buildings on Potsdamer Strasse. Altogether, this represents a floor area of around 48000 m2. This corresponds roughly to the area of about 750 apartments (with an apartment size of 65 m2) – or in other words, the buildings could have been converted into about 750 apartments. Several actions are planned as part of ABRISSSSTOP to speak out against the practice of demolition and the displacement processes that accompany it, and to draw attention to the citywide problem in Berlin’s building and land policies:

  • demonstration ABRISSSSSSTOP on February, 25th 2023 at 4pm, ending with a PROTEST FEST in front of Urania 4-10.
  • A procession with cardboard models of the buildings in threatened with demolition, accompanying the demonstration.
  • a film projection on the facade of the partially demolished building Urania 4-10.
  • Exhibition VISITING: ABRISS in the shop window of Kurfürstenstraße 145.

EXHIBITION VISITING: ABRISS

As an artistic intervention in the urban space, the temporary exhibition VISITING: ABRISS,
dealing with the topic of demolition on various levels, opens on February 25th:

  • Video interviews with: Alexander Stumm (Demolition Moratorium), Niklas Schenker (Die Linke Berlin), Samuel Schreiter (Construction Manager of the demolition project Urania 4-10) and others.
  • Poster series with background information on the demolition practice in Berlin in four languages (German, English, Turkish, Bulgarian) created in collaboration with graphic designer Björn Giesecke.

At the micro level, video interviews document various perspectives on the demolition. Residents were asked to what extent information about the demolition had been shared l and what their opinion on the matter is. In addition, politicians and actors from the construction industry gave their opinions. Among them are Samuel Schreiter (construction manager of the demolition site Urania 4- 10), Alexander Stumm (Demolition Moratorium) and Niklas Schenker (Die Linke Berlin).

Schreiter uses the example of the building at Urania 4-10 in order to explain the three phases of a demolition: clearing out, cleaning up pollutants and demolishing the existing structure. He also raises the prospect of possible future uses. Stumm and Schenker deal with the demands for a general ban on demolition as part of a radical change of the construction sector and its legal framework.

Banner of the Demonstration. at the 25.02.23. 4pm at U Kurfürstenstraße, Berlin

Reuse and repurpose

On a macro level, facts and figures about demolition on a citywide level are presented in comprehensible comparisons. A series of posters available in easy language and in German, English, Turkish and Bulgarian will reach out to as many people as possible in the Kurfürstenkiez. They will deal with the ecological issues linked to demolition as well as the consequences of gentrification processes that can result from such drastic changes.

About UFO UFO

Urban fragment observatory is a young Berlin-based spatial research collective founded by Jeanne Astrup Chauvaux, Sebastian Díaz de León, Lena Löhnert and Florine Schüschke. With exhibitions, interventions in public space and film works, they counter the ills of the construction industry with ideas that show ways out of the monotony of architecture and the built environment.

Recent Exhibition:

“VISITING: Inken Baller & Hinrich Baller, Berlin 1966-89”
NETWORK

ufo ufo – urban fragment observatory is linked with the initiatives Schöneberger Kiezpalaver, AbrissMoratorium and IG Habersaathstraße and part of the Anti- Demolition Plenum. Read more about the initiative here


VISITING: ABRISS

ABRISSSSSSTOP – PROTEST FEST URBAN INTERVENTION

Saturday, 25/02/23
02:00 pm: press conference showcase Kurfürstenstr. 145, 10785 Berlin
04:00 pm: exhibition opening and demonstration start
U-Bhf. Kurfürstenstraße in front of the LSD department store Kurfürstenstraße 151, 10785 Berlin
05:30 pm: filmscreening, end of demonstration and hot drinks
at Urania 4-10, 10787 Berlin

#abrissStop #ProtestFest #DownWithDemolition

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