Berlin elections were much harder than going by bike through town: it tells us that weather is less important than just a real `Swapfliets` bicycle as a Service that truly deserves its name: You just go to any of their shops downtown Berlin, organise your particular demand and obtain the best offer of a riding vehicle – its translation from Dutch into German simply says: urban infrastructure by bike is FUN and ensures our future!

The Gleisdreieck blog refers to the Berlin newspaper ‘Tagesspiegel’on April 01, 2022, where coalition parties put into question towers for business and administration of 90 meters hight, planned at a time of up to 100 000 empty flats in Berlin, back in 2005. Civil society and local communities appear in disfavour of an area that would be sealed for car parks several storeys under the soil, damaging the park’s ecological function of cooling and airing the city. This is why the coalition contract now foresees the following:

” … the urban concept is being analysed for current clima-political tasks with a view to allow for building and housing, in due course. …” – so how to go about this challenge?

– According to the Left party, one should abandon the entire project altogether.
– The Green party opts for an enlargened park, with its Southern front towards the former postal Station to remain.

A short explanation on the 2005 city concept highlights the compensation regime that has led to this status of not deciding: it says that if the opportunity to use property stakes for construction is not used, Vivivco (or its subsequent property owner) would be able to claim indemnity along §§ 42 ff. BauGB.

The Green party further indicates possible compensation of the owner of the property, falling back to the country of Berlin as the signatory party to Vivico. The Berlin Senate does not want to address such claims, since this would be a project by the municipality in charge of any planning failures. The local municipality, however, says the development plan could eventually be fixed for the Southern part of the deal by the end of 2022, as long as there are no other grounds for decision. Having said this, such decision would need to be met at Berlin country level.

The company in charge of planning and implementing all tower ideas since 2014 (the CORPO project development GmbH) claims itself sure of victory, with no further changes forseen, according to the newspaper (Tagesspiegel).

Source: https://www.facebook.com/matthias.bauer.351/posts/5173327322689643?notif_id=1649103491406275&notif_t=close_friend_activity&ref=notif

https://www.facebook.com/urbannationberlin/photos/a.586423108131349/4853637158076568/

The exhibition is worth seeing more than once, just go to Bülowstr. 90 in D – 10783 Berlin

Fresh A.I.R #6

Scholarship Exhibition “REFLECTING MIGRATION” – 11th March to 31st of July 2022

Now in interim use by Berlin’s Housing Society GEWOBAG, the exhibition space invites to engage in “cultural differences and multiple strategies for life in urban space”, according to Janine Arndt, art director of ‘Reflecting Migration‘. The Foundation “Berlin Leben” presents the works of the 6th Fresh A.I.R. class, see https://www.stiftung-berliner-leben.de/eroeffnung-fresh-a-i-r-6-scholarship-exhibition-reflecting-migration-am-samstag-den-12-03-2022/

The artists are Denise Lobont, Nikki Spanou, Andreas Langfeld, Ludivine Thomas-Andersson, Marta Bogdańska, Ecaterina Stefanescu, Zeynep Okyay und Aslı Dinç, Linda Söderholm, Regina Vitányi, Tomáš Kajánek and Maria Pichel, spending 6 months (10/2021 – 03/2022) to reflect their views on migration artistically. With a monthly stipend by GEWOBAG real estate, they create their own perspectives about cultural differences from their home countries of France or Romania, Germany or Turkey, exploring their ways to enlarge life strategies in Berlin’s urban space. Be it dark pictures of racial profiling, small “passports” designed and spread around local spaces, or the meticulous shopping area built like a puppet house that reflects ‘home’, a lot of thoughts went into their works.

GEWOBAG Foundation https://www.stiftung-berliner-leben.de/ was set up in May 2013 under the umbrella of art and culture, youth, senior citizens and more – following the motto “Connect. Create. Care.” Along these lines, the ‘Kiez meets Museum’ equally aims at creating art with young people.