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0182.1 Fahrbereitschaft Lichtenberg: Schaulager ×

With the reunification of Berlin, the chauffeur service for GDR officials was taken out of service and its premises, the Fahrbereitschaft, fell into disuse. Located in Berlin-Lichtenberg, the site encompasses 13 historical buildings, reminiscent of the towers of 0154 San Gimignano Lichtenberg. They included numerous garages, car workshops, a petrol station, and a casino with a ballroom and other cultural facilities. The clients, conceptual art collectors and progenitors of the Haubrok Foundation, decided to develop the large area whilst preserving the existing fabric. The concept thus envisaged a mixed-use complex—juxtaposing production with art— aimed at reusing the existing structures and providing studio space for affordable rents. Two new buildings were to be added to the site: a 108-meter-long pavilion for commercial use (0182 Fahrbereitschaft Lichtenberg: Gewerbe) that is aligned with the southern border of the plot and a square building for art storage located next to the entrance to the area. Read more

On april 26, 2018, shortly after the commercial building was finished, the municipal building authority forbade the operators to engage in exhibition activities that were planned in the context of the Gallery Weekend Berlin. Birgit Monteiro (SPD), Lichtenberg’s district councillor, justified the decision with a paragraph of the building law, according to which art exhibitions on the property were not allowed and therefore could not be approved. The argument was an expected increase in land prices and the consequent potential crowding out of smaller manufacturing industries—asserting that productive industries must be protected against culture. The plan to realize the second building in the same year, which was to house the Haubrok Foundation exhibition warehouse, was thus no longer viable: the Foundation distanced itself from the plans for the new construction. This example is paradigmatic for the negotiation of the increasingly scarce studio and commercial space, affordable rents, feared displacement, and the legal situation that no longer withstands the rapid urban development in Berlin. Read less

Category
Project
Place
Berlin
Year
2015 – 2018
Client
HAUBROK Foundation
Use
exhibiting
Collaboration
Brandlhuber+ Emde, Burlon
Team
Pierre Alexandre Bardat, Marta Dyachenko, Ilaria Giacomini, Maria Hudl, Marian Jobke, Naomi Steinhagen, Duy An Tran, Jacopo Vantini, Marco Wagner, Marcel Weimar

© Brandlhuber+ Team

The email was displayed on the billboard next to the entrance to the site in protest against the rejection by the authorities. © Brandlhuber+ Team

Scan of Berliner Portraits – Erzählungen zur Architektur der Stadt

Scan of Berliner Portraits – Erzählungen zur Architektur der Stadt