202 arq • V0I3 • nc>3 • 1999 design

Florian Beigel andPhilip Christou

Time architecture:StadtlandschaftLichterfelde Slid, Berlin

Authors' addressArchitecture Research UnitUniversity of North London6-40 Holloway RoadLondon N7 8JLUnited Kingdom

This winning design in the 1998 Lichterfelde Sud InternationalLandscape and Urban Design Competition is forthe regeneration ofa former military training ground on the southern boundary ofBerlin. The brief was for a new urbanism of the periphery, with 3200dwellings on a 115 hectare site. The design is a continuation ofresearch embracing conditions of uncertainty and change on mainlypost-industrial or former military sites. It could be described as afragment of an infrastructural urbanism in preparation for anunpredictable diversity of architectures.

Paul Klee's engraving '1928, N6 ein Blatt aus demStadtebuch' (N6: a Leaf from the Book of Cities, 1928)is a scripture [Fig. 2]. It is a tabulation of cityelements, similar to a textile, a texture. The groundof the engraving appears to be a stone tablet. Atthe bottom of this tablet the title is inscribed andsigned by Klee. The leaf appears to be a parchmentlaid on this stone. The top third has a kind ofchapter signum which could be an abstracted sunwith a strip of sky above and a horizon below.Below a text of pictograms continues to thebottom of the leaf. It consists of an evolving citytypology. The pictograms are arranged in a series ofhorizontal lines sometimes attached, sometimesdetached, and there are detached and attachedpictograms within the lines. Basic patterns in thetexture have a high degree of formal repetition.Some consist of a row of basic types with variations.It is possible to associate building typologies withthe pictograms. It is a sophisticated and richcomposition.

This is an interesting representation of the city.It evokes a sense of a time before literacy andwriting. A record of a civilization, or the city, iswritten down rather than made into a pictureas in a perspective description. This leaf is not afinite description of the city, because it is onlyone page out of a book, a fact signalled by the 'N6'in the title. The engraving somehow conveys anidea of a complex evenness and equality, like agroup of characters. It suggests a certainexchangeability and encapsulates a strong senseof relativity.

The contemporary city/landscapeThe city edge condition in Lichterfelde Slid can bedescribed as an archetypical metropolitanperipheral site within the region of Berlin/Potsdam[Fig. 3]. Here, one is really neither in the city nor theopen landscape. This region is increasinglybecoming a large-scale citylandscape, closelyconnected to modern communication systems.Lichterfelde Slid has the potential to become afragment of a new model of the in-between city. Onemight also speak of an ecological urbanism.

We are living at a time when the speed oftransportation is rapidly increasing and exceedinglypowerful information systems are becomingcommonplace. It is a period of simultaneity ofexperience and place. Our understanding of themeaning of place is undergoing change. Anincreasing artificiality in the entire physicalenvironment, from urban to rural, is occurring.There is no longer a city and there is no longer alandscape. We are living in an agglomerative space, acitylandscape.

In addition to this changing attitude towardsplace, we find ourselves in a multi-value society,where people are accepting a plurality of directionsand aspirations. Diverse interpretations of realitycoexist, and viewpoints multiply. This is graduallycreating the possibility for simultaneousinterpretations of various planes of reality.Architecture is being presented with a wide diversityof forms, origins and intentions. Urban developmentis a patchwork. The idea of the urban masterplan isfinished.

facing page1 Collage plan showing

an incremental field-by-field partialdevelopment of thesite. A number ofgrounds and fieldboundaries have beengiven a newstructure, and severalfields have newbuildings on them

design arq • V0I3 • no 3 • 1999 203

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2 Paul Klee, Ein Blattaus dem Stadtebuch,1928 (accession nr.1795). Engraving onchalk on paper onwood panel, 42.5 x31.5cm, (Credit:OeffentlicheKunstsammlungBasel, Kunstmuseum.

Photograph:OeffentlicheKunstsammlungBasel, MartinBuhler). A tabulationof city elementsconveying an idea ofcomplex evennessand exchangeability

3 The site is a typicalcity edge withseveral unplannedsmall-scaleindustrialsettlements. Manyare low cost smallbusinesses withtemporary or illegaltenure.

As architects, we are interested to discover new andintelligent ways of working with these conditions ofconnectivity of place and plurality of lifestyle. Designstrategies are needed to utilize processes of change,complexity and uncertainty as active ingredients in aproject. Masterplanning as an approach is now toofixed and final for the formulation of architecturalfutures for these complex situations. Designstrategies that work with the dimension of time arecalled for - an anticipatory architecture (Price, 1996)that allows and assumes change and is capable ofcontinuous responsiveness to new conditions andunknown future needs. We are finding new ways ofusing diversity and uncertainty as active generatorsof design.

'Infrastructure, urbanism is flexible and anticipatory.It works with time and is open to change. By specifyingwhat must be fixed and what is subject to change, itcan be precise and indeterminate at the same time'(Allen, S.1998).

A spatial concept: architecture is individual, landscapeis sharedThe point of departure for this research is the designof a landscape infrastructure providing a frameworkfor a diversity of urban development to happen intime. Landscape infrastructures are thought of ascatalysts for architectural development (Desvigne, M.and Dalnoky, C, 1995). We intend to introducelandscape elements which make diversity enjoyable,creating a common ground for unknown futures. Itis our premise that landscape infrastructures can begenerated from the existing landscape conditions.We propose to identify specific aspects of the history

and complexity of the site that have physicalpresence in the Lichterfelde landscape, and can beused as a basis of the design proposal.

In this sense we have taken up the challenge madeby Rem Koolhaas in 'Bigness', (Koolhaas, R. and Mau,B-1995) without assuming that the result will be amegabuilding or an isolated structure that is 'nolonger part of any urban tissue'. While Koolhaas expectsthat the containment of the big building will make'the parts remain committed to the whole', we are perhapsdoing the opposite to achieve this. The presence ofthe land and its accumulated physical culture - theconditions that exist in the place - are intensified orat least made visible, and therefore utilized for their'potential to reconstruct the Whole, resurrect the Real,reinventthe collective, reclaim maximum possibility... in alandscape of disarray, disassembly, dissociation,disclamation..." Replacing the words 'landscapeinfrastructure' for 'Bigness' in Koolhaas's text, 'Aparadox o/[landscape infrastructure] is that in spite ofthe calculation that goes into its planning - in fact, throughits very rigidities - it is the one architecture that engineersthe unpredictable. Instead of enforcing coexistence,(landscape infrastructure] depends on regimes offreedoms, the assembly of maximum difference... It developsstrategies to organize both their independence andinterdependence within a larger entity in a symbiosis thatexacerbates rather than compromises specificity"(Koolhaas, R. and Mau, B., 1995).

Four landscapesWe have identified four landscapes on the site. This isour own reading of the place [Fig 4]. We havediscovered the geological landscape formed by sea

Florian Beigel and Philip Christou ' Time architecture: Stadtlandschaft Lichterfelde Siid, Berlin

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sedimentation; the agricultural field pattern of theeighteenth century and its transformation into theextensive cooperative farmlands of the GermanDemocratic Republic; the military landscape theatrewith its artificial topographies, its east/westconflicting stage sets and defensive structure; andthe wild landscape that has now taken over, bringingwith it a new ecological diversity.

These landscapes each have a powerful sense oftime, and it is this temporal presence that is the mostessential aspect of the architectural design and formof this project. The traces of history are thecharacteristics we want to expose, reveal anddevelop. They are the substances and the values onecan share with other people (Beigel, F. and Christou,

1997). It is a complex and rich phenomenon and asafety net for a chaotic love affair with diversity inour time. It could make variety enjoyable.

'I believe we attach too much importance to art andarchitecture in producing an awareness of our belongingto a city or a country, when what we actually share is asense of time. What we commemorate is its passing;and we thus establish a more universal historical bondand develop a deeper understanding of our society"(Jackson, 1994).

In geological time this land was covered by the sea.Brandenburg has a very flat, very open landscape,with a large sky [Fig. 5]. Historically it is a very wetand sandy land with large wooded areas standingunderwater (for example, the Spreewald region

4 Aerial photo ofLichterfeldeSOd.Theopen lands to thesouth are grainfarming fields(formerly collectivefarms). The V-shaped line next tothese fields is the lineof the Berlin Wall, onthe southern edge ofWest Berlin

5 The flat, often sandyBrandenburgfarmland, seen fromthe southern part ofthe site. Thishorizontal landscapewas formed bysuccessive glaciersand shallow seas

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south-east of Berlin is a dense network of canals andwetland forests). After the land was drained in theeighteenth century, it was used for agriculture. Thefield pattern of that period is reflected in the plotpattern of the surrounding suburbs and theallotment gardens to the east of the site [Fig. 6]. In1938 the land was acquired from the Sabersky family

by the German Railways to build a railway systemrepair works on the site: this was never realized. Therailways, in the form of the Eisenbahn ImmobilienManagement Company, own the site today. It is theirsecond largest property in Germany.

With the hardening of the Cold War following theuprising in East Germany on 17 June 1953, the

6 Aigo6mapofLichterfeldeSudshowing the sitewith its eighteenth-century fieldpattern. Since 1938,the site has been inrailway ownership

7 In 1953 theAmericansconstructed anurban warfarepractice ground onthe site. Only thestreet patternssurvivea West Berlin suburbwith a meanderingcurved street layoutB East Berlin suburbwith rectangulargrid street layout

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American protection force constructed an urbanwarfare practice ground in the southern two thirdsof the site. Along the Berlin Wall in the south andsouth-western areas of the site they built a rough andimpassable military topography including a hill(approximately 10 metres high) between two heavyconcrete roads for tanks, one running along theformer Berlin Wall and the other along the northernedge of the rough terrain. From the top of the hillone has a panoramic view to the vast openness of theBrandenburg landscape.

On a level plain north of the rough terrain, theAmericans constructed a military theatre set as adivided Potemkin Town, with a curving street patternlike that of a West Berlin suburb on the west side[Fig. 7a], and a rectangular grid pattern of streets asan image of East Berlin [Fig. 7b]. These two imaginarycity fragments were divided by a 6 metre high earthdam with a small railway on top. Only traces of thisremain today.

After the Americans left the site in 1990 followingreunification in 1989, the southern two thirds of thesite lay abandoned behind fences and locked gates.The fences along the Osdorfer StralSe in the east andalong the former wall in the south are still in placetoday, and access through the gates is controlled. Acertain sense of eeriness and danger is almostinescapable when entering the southern, formermilitary, territory of the site. One finds oneself in anurban wilderness. It is a terrain vague (Sola-Morales, I.1996), full of adventure for the young of theThermometer Siedlung (a housing estate of mediumand multi-storey apartment buildings up to 22 floorshigh built in the 1970s just to the north of the site).One comes across the occasional promeneurs onhorseback from the riding school situated in theunplanned small-scale industrial estate along thenorth edge of the site. The place has waited for a longtime and continues to wait. There is a certain enigmaof place, a sense of mystery. One senses a strongpotential here. It is fragile and threatened - a placewhere one should tread gently and which shouldperhaps be left untouched (Pikionis, 1989). The birchtrees with their white bark on which the lightreflects are taking over [Fig. 8]. We are interested inthe protection of a number of valuable biotopes^within the site and particularly in the large centralgrassland, as recorded in a number of ecologicalstudies carried out on the site by the Berlin Senateand described in the competition brief [Fig. 9].

These biotopes offer a unique character to the newLichterfelde Slid. It maybe possible to limit theaccess to specially protected territories where thereare protected species such as Pfuhl and Silbergrashiigel[Fig. 10a], by forming fences and gates. Footpaths willbe located mainly within the perimeter of the fieldwith one or two jetties for pedestrians connectingthe north/south roads across this open ecologicalgrassland in the centre of the site [Fig. 10b]. Anecological study station and a cafe could be attachedto these jetties. Lines of trees, hedges, swales, tunnelsand pipes under roads will connect the variousbiotopes (Merritt, A., 1994). This green network willbe linked to the new horseriding meadows at the

8 The site is now anurban wilderness -fragile andthreatened. There areseveral dense forestsof self-seeded birchtrees scattered acrossthe site

g Infrared aerial photowith transparentoverlay showingbiological areas ofparticular ecologicalimportanceidentified in thecompetition brief

High dry grass areas(nos. l, 8 and 12)1 former railway areawith a variety ofprotected sand drygrasses. The selfplanted birch forestsare important forslowworms and drygrasses for fencelizards. Birds includeBluthanfling;Neuntofen

Baumpieper,Steinmatzer

8 silver grass area. Inaddition to silver grassthere are also dry grossspecies protected bytaw

12 on oreo with a widerange of species ofspecial grasses - mixedwith single pine andbirch trees

Areas with temporaryponds (sand 7)5 has a small pondwith a protected reedspecies

7 small ponds whichwere dry when theecologists did thesurvey. In former timesthey were importantforspawningofvarious now rare andprotected amphibians.The ecological reportrecommends that thedry ponds are worthkeeping

Areas of trees (4.10and 11)4 forest at southerntip of site10 field trees -separate groups andsingle trees whichshould be retained ifpossible but do nothave legal protection.The strip containsprotected reedsproviding a place foramphibians to spawn11 high quality forestimmediately north oflarge grass field. Inboth 4 and 11. birchesare dominant, butthere are also pinesand oaks. A specialkind of plant thatdepends on the oakgrows on the groundbetween the trees.These partiallyprotected forestscould be developedinto semi naturalmixed oak forests

Time architecture: Stadtlandschaft LichterfeldeSud, Berlin Florian Beigel and Philip Christou

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10b

south side of the American Road and to the largeopen fields of the planned Tel tow Regional Parksouth of the site.

Landscape infrastructures

The landscape infrastructures we are proposingconsist in essence of landscape fields similar to ahorticultural or agricultural structure, laid out onthe site in response to the layered reading of thehistory of the landscape. In the Witznitz project(Beigel, Christou, 1996), we referred to these fields aslandscape carpets. The premise is that, in time, thesecarpets will become the generators of a variety ofbuilding patterns, turning landscape fields intofields of buildings.

There is a high degree of uncertainty and thereforeunpredictability in the formation of these buildingfields. They will be built gradually, as the Berlineconomy allows (the current economy is verydepressed, and it is not expected to improve before2002-3), by different developers and differentarchitects, for different users. The relativeproportion between apartments and houses (allowner occupied) is changing by the day. The numberof units that can be accommodated on the site istherefore changing. At the time of the competition,3200 units were asked for with a mix of roughly 50%apartments and 50% houses. The current proportionis somewhat polemically estimated as being 5%apartments and 95% one family houses, as proposedby market analysts. This proportion is expected tochange again. Five years ago, it was estimated thatthe population of Berlin would grow in the space of15 years to 5 million inhabitants owing to its newstatus as a national capital. The reverse now seems tobe the case. In the last few years people have beenmoving out of Berlin at a rate of 30,000 per year. Theymove into the Spedcgiirtel (the affluent belt) of thecity. Building societies are now consideringdemolition projects in Berlin. In the case of theLichterfelde site, the investors first assumed thatthe development would grow from the S-Bahnstation in the north-west towards the south. Now itappears that the sites in the south near the openland will be more attractive to the first inhabitants[Fig. 1].

We have proposed the concept of Wohnmenu (seebelow) as a strategy for the housing fields. Thelandscape carpets could be seen as providing the

ground for an 'architectural picnic', giving thedevelopment a sense of place originating from thespecificities and materialities of the immediate, nearand distant landscape. Our competition submissionshowed choices from the Wohnmenu as inhabitationpatterns of the landscape fields. The choices are inpart informed by the contextual qualities of thelandscape fields: proximity to the S-Bahn station;proximity to the large grassland biotope in thecentre of the site; proximity to the Osdorfer StraEe inthe East (the only access to the network of publichighways); proximity to the very large openlandscape to the south of the site and so on. Near theS-Bahn station and along the southern edge adjacentto the large open landscape, the use of the landscapefields tends to be denser than the fields surroundingthe ecological biotope area in the centre. The fieldsalong the Osdorfer StraJse are given over tocommercial uses, keeping heavy traffic away fromthe housing fields. Otherwise, the proposals are onlymeant to be suggestions. The plan could be seen as atest for the process of growth and change.

We feel the proposed infrastructural design cancope with all the uncertainties and changes in brief(Alonso, P., 1989). This incremental field-by-fieldprogression has the advantage of looking morecomplete than an unfinished masterplan with amore finite image of the whole.

The pattern of the fields

The landscape of the Lichterfelde Slid site can be readas a number of more or less parallel territoriesstretching from east to west, roughly perpendicularto the territory of the railways along the west edge ofthe site [Figs. 11a, 11b]. Curiously, the directionalityof this strip system is at a skew with thedirectionality of the former agricultural orderinherent in the street patterns surrounding the site.In the north, along the Reamur Stra/se, the boundaryto the Thermometer Siedlung, there is the area ofmore or less unplanned light industrial sheds andyards originating from the Russian barracks builtafter the war. To the south of this area is a densegrove of birch trees stretching from the eastern edgeof the site (Osdorfer StraJse) halfway into the site withdistinct north and south edges. Along its southperimeter, a field path continues towards the railwayline on the western edge of the site. Between thisfield path and the American Road, a large low-lying

Florian Beigel and Philip Christou Time architecture: Stadtlandschaft Lichterfelde Sud, Berlin

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10 The areas ofecologicalimportance will givethe area a uniquecharactera A small mound ofsilvergrass,identified in one ofthe ecologicalreportscommissioned bythe Berlin Senateb A large open wildmeadowlandreaching across thecentre of the sitefrom east to west.Note the heavyconcrete militaryroad (now known asthe American Road)near the south-eastend of thismeadowland

11 The landscape can beread as a number ofparallel territoriesstretching east/westroughlyperpendicular to therailways on the westedgea Early design sketchlayout of fields androadsb Sketch of finallayout

11b

open grassland contains ecologically rare andsensitive biotopes. To the south of the AmericanRoad (as we call it), is the rough land, the formermilitary topography where contamination can beexpected. To the south of that territory, in thetriangle of the former Berlin Wall, is another forestof birch trees arranged in three east/west parallelstrips [Fig. 12].

It is this east/west territorial order of the site

landscape that has generated the directionality ofthe infrastructure field pattern. Overlaid onto theeast/west field pattern in a north-west/south-eastdirection is the system of Flurstrassen, the formeragricultural field roads, providing access to the newfields along their short ends. The skew tangent ofthese roads provides characteristic entrance spacesto the building fields, where the corner communityservices are located. The overlay of these two

Time architecture: Stadtlandschaft Lichterfelde Siid, Berlin Florian Beigel and Philip Christou

2io arq • V0I3 • no 3 • 1999 design

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12 Competition siteplan (original is3 x 2metres, drawn atscalei:iooo).Theoverlay of thegeometries of theeighteenth-centurystrip field patternand their accessroads provides themain formal elementof the plan

geometries is the principal formal element in thescheme.

The field edgesThe design provides three types of edge conditions tothe fields: rows of tall poplar trees; gabion wallsmade from demolition material that will in time beovergrown with vegetation; and linear shallowditches (swales) [Figs. 13a, 13b, 13c, 13d]. Along thesefield edges, footpaths and bicycle paths run by thegardens of the buildings, away from the noise,creating a network of routes connecting the entirenew citylandscape. One can imagine theseinfrastructural elements forming the edges of thefields as lines of a musical score in which buildingstructures are inscribed [Fig. 14].

The swales form the basis of the surface waterdrainage of the site (S.E.P.A., 1997). At the moment,rainwater seeps away naturally down to the watertable. We think it important that any design for thesite should consider retaining this regime. As the siteis developed in time, large areas will be covered(streets, sidewalks, roofs). Diverting the rainwater

directly from these areas into the sewerage system ofBerlin would change the region's drainagecharacteristics and could cause flooding of rivers ordetrimentally change the existing habitat of theforests.

The use of linear seeping ditches of about 40cmdepth and 300cm width (swales) will establishdrainage conditions similar to existing ones. Surfacewater drained from paved areas will be led throughoil filters before entering the swales. Surface watercollected in the swales will seep slowly into the sandygrounds allowing the water table to remain atcurrent levels. Swales are a common agriculturalelement in this region.

During periods of high rainfall, the amount ofwater staying on the surface may be more than theamount that seeps into the ground. In this case thewater is kept in the swales and local flooding can beavoided. In order to prevent extreme flooding, theswales will be connected and their overflows directedtowards collecting ponds in open parts of the site. Theoccasional moisture of the swales promotes thegrowth of reeds and other types of moist plants. As the

Florian Beigel and Philip Christou Time architecture: Stadtlandschaft Lichterfelde Siid, Berlin

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13 Thedesignprovidesthree edgeconditions to thefieldsa Plan showing thethree edge typeslocated according tolocal conditions:

1 rows of tall poplartrees (textured strips)

2 low gabion walls(solid lines)

3 linear shallow ditchesor swales (doubledashed lines)

b Long rows of tallpoplar trees are acommon agriculturalwindbreak in thisregionc 3 metre highgabion walld Swale

14 Inresponsetothecompetitionrequirement for aSwarzplan (afigure/ground planof buildings on thesite), this conceptdrawingdemonstrated theprinciple of a highvariety ofarchitecturesinscribed on the sitelike notes on amusical score

majority of the site is sandy below the surface, waterwill not remain stagnant on the surface and flies andmidges will not become a problem. The use of swales isan economical and ecological drainage managementstrategy - significantly cheaper than the installationof a conventional piped drainage system.

The surfaces of the fieldsBefore building construction begins, the few areas ofthe site with contaminated ground could undergo afield-by-field treatment - either by removingcontaminated soil, or by cultivating purificationplants, or by treatment with microbes. Empty fields

Time architecture: Stadtlandschaft Lichterfelde Sud, Berlin Florian Beigel and Philip Christou

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could be used temporarily for storage of topsoil fromother fields and serve as a resource for landscapingwork elsewhere or for the production of greenfertilizer (e.g. cheap comfrey). When the subgrade isexposed, fields could be protected by a special kindof grass. Generally, each building field will display itsspecific characteristics - with one type of grass fordry sandy soil, and another for fertile soil rich incompost. Dry grass, wild grass meadows and lawnwill form a patchwork of grass types.

In a similar way, the space made by trees and forestswill be specific to field types. For example, the fieldsused for the 'urban villas' could be enriched by avariety of fruit trees while the fields with 'tree houses'are located in existing birch groves provided withadditional birches as required [Fig. 15]. The design ofthe hard field surfaces will also vary according to fieldtype - asphalt, hogging, reinforced grass, etc. Theintention is to achieve a patchwork, a kind of agrarianlandscape, not an optimized general solution.

The road infrastructureThere are four orders of roads. Osdorfer Stra/se,running along the east edge of the site, is a regionalroad connecting the open country south of Berlin toLichterfelde and Berlin Steglitz as part of a system ofurban motorways. It is the only access road to thesite. From Osdorfer StraJSe, the design provides two'land roads' (as we call them), running west along thelandscape territories of the site described above,towards the railway Line. These are the 'AmericanRoad' in the south, and the 'Heath Road', in thenorth [Fig. 16]. The Reamur StraiJe along thenorthern edge of the site, the Heath Road and theAmerican Road are connected with a road along therailway. Some form of limited access for public

transport buses, emergency vehicles, handicappeddrivers and delivery vehicles is under considerationfor the Railway Road with the intention ofdiscouraging extensive private traffic on the site. Asimplified form of the former agricultural roadpattern, the 'field roads' running north-west/south-east, branches off the two main land roads accessingthe pattern of fields. The smallest order of roads arecalled 'Wohnstrassen' (neighbourhood streets) locatedon the fields, providing access and parking to thebuildings. They are private, whereas all the otherroads are public.

The use of the military road is under extensivescrutiny by the developers who fear that it may beunattractive [Fig. 17a]. We have suggested that itcould be seen as a special type of road running in itsmeandering course, a bit like a river, betweenstretches of straight embankments of earth, withbicycle and footpaths on top [Fig. 17b]. Theembankment material would come from theexcavation necessary to build the Heath Road andthe banks formed so that car traffic would beinvisible from the open ecological grassland [Fig.17c]. We refer to both roads as Valley roads' in anattempt to create for Lichterfelde a road spacetypology (land roads) [Fig. i7d] different from thestreets in central Berlin which tend to be traditionalEuropean city typologies. The new services for theAmerican Road could be laid beside it - this might bemore economical than building a new road.

The WohnmenuIn Lichterfelde Siid we propose the concept of aWohnmenii. This is a catalogue of housing field typeseach with identifiable building types: individualfree-standing houses among trees; hedge buildings;

16

15 Plan of existing treeswith rows of poplarsand new field treesaccording to specificfield types

16 Plan showing landroads', 'field roads',and •Wohnstrassen'

(neighbourhoodstreets) with theirvariousconfigurations forparking according tofield types

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17 The use of the old'American' militaryroad is under intensescrutinya Competitionmodel lookingsouthward. Thelarge meadowland inthe centre isbounded on itsnorthern edge by the'Heath Road'partially excavatedto allow small jetty-like bridges to crossover the grasslandfor pedestrians andcyclists. The'American Road'follows its existingroute, with longstraight stretchesand gentle curvesb 'American Road'section with longembankments forcyclists andpedestrians, forminga wide valley-likemeandering roadspace

c Competitionmodel showing the'American Road'with its longembankments as itwinds between thehousing fieldsd 'Heath Road'section withembankments forcyclists andpedestrians on thesides of an excavatedvalley-like roadspace

17b

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214 arq • V0I3 • no 3 1999 design

bridge buildings; mews houses; urban villas; patiohouses; urban stitch buildings; row houses [Fig. 18].Specific names indicate an urban role or a landscapecondition. These designs are being critically reviewedand supplemented by new types in response tocontinuing changes in economic conditions. Theidea of a menu is to offer a diversity of dwellingforms associated with the main landscapecharacteristics of the site, interpreted by differentarchitects and built gradually over time. Thestructure of the housing fields has the potential ofcreating strong neighbourhoods.

Most of the residential units have two or threefloors. In the case of the hedge houses there are fourfloors. The buildings are not higher than the existingtree groups on the site, nor will there be a largeheight difference between the multi-storey buildingsand the smaller houses. In all cases there is a strongrelationship between the immediate and largerlandscapes. The majority of houses have gardens,shared or private. Every apartment or house hasbeen assigned one parking space. The majority ofdwellings will have an additional space with separateprivate access: this could be used as a student's room,a studio, a workshop, a single apartment for thegrandmother or the grown-up son or daughter. Thedwellings are mostly designed as compact units ofabout i2om2 average floor area.

The Wdhnmenii includes:

The field of urban stitch buildingsUrban stitch buildings are positioned across the fieldoffering views to adjacent fields north and south

[Fig. 19]. The open space between the buildings isused alternately for access and parking or as acommon or private garden area. Stitch buildings areterraces of deep plan three-storey houses. In a postcompetition design development, an option ofattached wide frontage houses is being consideredfor these buildings.

The field of patio housesThis is a carpet of high density, low rise atriumhouses. Individual houses have a single- and adouble-storey part. Each has a private patio and agreen roof garden option. At the end of the field,adjacent to the road, two- and three-storey buildingssurround an open space similar to a farmyard,connecting the carpet of patio houses to theStadtlandschaft. These buildings maybe used asdwellings and for local community functions[Fig. 20].

The field of row houses with private gardensThe row houses form long lines of two-storeyterraced houses with private gardens on the southside. A wide frontage type is also now being proposedas an option for these houses.

The field of urban villas (apartment villas)This is a type for people who do want theresponsibility of maintaining a private garden andwould prefer a two or three bedroom apartment to ahouse. These are relatively small buildings with onlythree or four dwellings per floor and not more thanthree to four floor levels [Fig. 21a]. The planarrangement of the apartments is similar to that in

-1 Ir—irrri r L_| ( .. I ' > '

Ltlrf18 A Wohnmenu of

housing fields eachwith its specificbuilding type isproposed. Here,some of these arelaid out duringconstruction of thecompetition model

ig Deep plan, three-storey terrace'stitchbuildings'withinterveningnorth/south openspaces alternativelyfor access andprivate gardens canbe seen in this model

20 High-density/low-rise carpet of patiohouses, generic planand section

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design arq • V0I3 • no 3 • 1999 215

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21b

21'Urban villas' arerelatively smallthree- or four-storeybuildings with threeor four dwellings perfloor arranged with alarge living roomsurrounded on threesides by smallerrooms (as in 21b)a The grounds of the

field and the form ofthe buildings are ofthe same order. Thebuildings grow outof the structure ofthe fieldb Plan showing acluster of fourapartments in AlvarAalto's HansaviertelHousing, Berlin, 1957

22 'Tree houses' aresmall two-storeydetached housesscattered in theexisting birchforests. Generic planand section

the Hansaviertel in Berlin designed by Alvar Aalto(1955-57), with a large living room similar to acourtyard surrounded on three sides by smallerrooms [Fig. 21b].

The field of tree housesOne- or two-storey detached houses are scatteredamong existing groves of birch trees. This type couldbe designed as timber framed buildings standing onstilts over uneven sloping ground. They couldpossibly be built by their owners with minimumdisturbance to the forest ecology [Fig. 22].

The field of mews housesA mews is a small lane with two- or three-storeyattached houses and workshop buildings on eitherside.

Groin buildingsThe groin buildings are situated on the southernedge of the site facing the future Teltow RegionalPark. They articulate the transition from LichterfeldeSlid to this open flat landscape similar to the groinsat a beach. They are three to four storeys high andcould be mixed use buildings.

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23 The link to theexistingThermometerSiedlung to the northhas been the subjectof intense studya Proposed fieldpattern and layout ofThermometer Estateto the northb Proposed groundspacesof theThermometer Estate,based on its existingstructure, giving agenerous publicconnection to thenew suburbanrailway station (A)

24 The route into theopen landscape fromthe new stationa Regional Centreplan showing a longgently slopingembankmentbuilding (B) along thenorth-west edge ofthe site, connected tothe station (A)b Cross section ofRegional Centre

25 The Lichterfeldeproject is a steptowardsunderstanding howarchitecturalpotential can bedesigned throughthe creation ofarchitecturalinfrastructuresa At a large scale, thestructure of theorchard atBrikettfabrikWitznitz, nearLeipzig, Germany(ArchitectureResearch Unit withFlorian BeigelArchitects andothers, 1996), formsthe basic plot

pattern for a carpet ofpatio housesb At the scale of thebuilding element, thecurtain wall glazingrails in the modernizedhousing at HarlowBishopsfield (FlorianBeigel and

Architecture ResearchUnit, 1994) allow thepossibility ofaplay ofelementsc Hedgerows, roadsand groves of treesform the landscapeinfrastructures in theEnglish landscape -complete at everystage of developmentand with the potentialto delight

24a

24b

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design arq • V0I3 • no 3 • 1999 217

25b

The fields of light industrial buildings at Osdorfer StralSeAs an option, these buildings could be designed as anindustrial hotel comparable to Dominique Perrault'shotel industriel on the periphery of Paris, an industrialapartment building with restaurant and car park(Perrault, D., 1994).

Urban relationships to the Thermometer Siedlung andto the S-Bahn stationThe competition jury correctly criticized our winningdesign as not giving sufficient consideration to theurban relationship of the Thermometer Siedlungwith Lichterfelde Siid. In response, we have developedideas for the reprogramming and resurfacing of thegrounds between the high rise buildings of theThermometer Siedlung and have made studies abouthow this new ground pattern might meet the fieldpattern of Lichterfelde Siid along the Reamur Stra/Seand connect to the railways and the station forecourt[Figs. 23a, 23b].

The route into the open landscape from LichterfeldeSud stationA series of four gently sloping embankmentbuildings provides protection from the noise of the

trains and forms a new horizon in the landscape atthe five metre level along the railways on the easternside of the site [Figs. 24a, 24b]. These buildings form alarge public sloping surface between the north andsouth underpasses leading to the S-Bahn stationplatforms and can be built in phases. Public facilitiessuch as a small supermarket, a privately financedswimming hall, bowling alley, sports and fitnesshalls, and the other commercial amenities you oftenfind next to suburban railway stations can beaccommodated under this sloping artificialtopography. The embankment buildings aredesigned with grass roofs. Along their bottom edgewhere the large sloping surface meets the naturalground, a green promenade originating in theThermometer Siedlung passes the station forecourtleading along a gabion wall in the wooded territorysouth of the embankment buildings. This wallprovides a continuous noise protection barrier fromthe railway. You can continue walking or riding abicycle through the linear void in the landscapewhere the former Berlin Wall stood (nowunfortunately broken up by a new civic plantingscheme), into the large open expanse of the futureTeltow Regional Park to the south of the site.

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218 arq • V0I3 • no 3 • iggg design

Architectural infrastructuresWe see the Lichterfelde project as a step towardsunderstanding how architectural potential can bedesigned. It is not so much the completeness of anarchitectural artifact or proposal that is of interesthere. The idea of the raw shell and its spatialcondition continues to fascinate us. The words 'rawshell' have a wider meaning here, referring tostructures of varying architectural scales,embodying the essence, the implicit nature of anarchitectural space. We call these architecturalinfrastructures. They suggest ideas for developingand inhabiting the project, probably unknown atthe time of design.

The design of a table comes to mind. It should bedesigned with potential. It could be a social attractor,gathering people around it, a platform to stand on, ahouse for a child to huddle under, a table to dine on,to write on, to present things on, to make things on,to reflect on. It should have the potential for use andmeaning which one hasn't necessarily thoughtabout when designing it. At the larger scale, anexample of such a structure with potential is thenow partially completed 'garden of mining' on thesite of the former Brikettfabrik Witznitz (Beigel, F.and Christou, P., 1996). There, the earthworks andthe horticultural field serve as a public garden forthe local apprentices' educational establishment andfor the citizens of the local town. The structure of theorchard is designed in such a way that it forms the

basic plot pattern for the future carpet of patiohouses on that field - attracting potential siteowners [Fig. 25a]. At the scale of the buildingelement, the curtain wall glazing rails of themodernized houses in Bishopsfield, Harlow (Beigel,F. and Christou, P., 1995) are another example for anarchitectural infrastructure. They resemble shelvesor rails that are fixed to the party walls of thebuilding. These shelves permit a free arrangement ofthe various curtain elements of the facade. A varietyof sheets of glass rest on them like pictures ofdifferent sizes and character. They allow thepossibility of play [Fig. 25b].

'Each thing is the infrastructure to the next? (Alonso, P.,1989). In Lichterfelde the selected reading of the siteis the largest infrastructural scale: the fields andtheir edges are an infrastructure originating fromthis reading. Building types might be built as rawshells giving scope for individual inhabitationpreferences. The furniture might also be understoodas infrastructural - Maarten van Severen is a designerwho approaches furniture production in this way(Zanco, F., 1994).

Lichterfelde is not a landscape design project and itis not an urban design project. It is an infrastructuralarchitectural project. We like infrastructures, becausethey are essential, can be shared and stir one'simagination. The project appears complete as eachlevel of infrastructural scale is realized. The potentialfor delight is given [Fig. 25c].

Notes'Time architecture' was the title given

to a conversation between DavidKohn and Florian Beigel publishedin Scroope: Cambridge ArchitectureJournal 1998, pp. 49-56.

1. Stadtlandschaft, or city landscape, isa term that is extremely importantto the work of the German architectHans Scharoun. See Beigel, F. (1996).'Exteriors into interiors, HansScharoun's idea of Stadtlandschaften'in Korean Architects, no. 141, May1996, pp. 118-125.

2. A biotope is a smaller division of ahabitat characterized by a highdegree of uniformity in itsenvironmental conditions and inits plant and animal life.

ReferencesAllen, S. (1998). 'Infrastructural

Urbanism', Scroope CambridgeArchitecture Journal, 1998, pp. 71-79.

Alonso, P. (1989). 'Infrastructures',Quaderns d'Arquitectura I Urbanisme181-182, April-Nov. 1989, pp. 18-29.

Beigel, F. and Christou, P. (1995). 'Atapestry in the landscape',architectural research quarterly, No. 1:Vol. 1, autumn 1995, pp. 28-44.

Beigel, F. and Christou, P. (1996).'Brikettfabrik Witznitz: specificindeterminacy - designing foruncertainty', architectural research

quarterly, No. 2: Vol. 2, winter 1996,pp. 18-38.

Beigel, F. and Christou, P. (1997). 'Epiclandscapes', New landscapes newterritories, Actar, Barcelona, 1997, pp.188-201.

Desvigne, M. And Dalnoky, C. (1995).'Gardens, sites for experimentationand prototypes', TheLandscape, Tourlandscape Designers, de Singel,Antwerp, 1995, pp. 175-181.

Jackson, J. B. (1994). A Sense of Place, aSense of Time, Yale University Press,New Haven and London, 1994,p. 162.

Koolhaas, R. and Mau, B. (1995).'Bigness or the problem of Large',S,M,L,XL, 010 Publishers, Rotterdam,1995. PP- 495-517-

Merritt, A. (1994). The Wildfowl &Wetlands Trust, a manual of principlesand practices, 1994.

Perrault, D. (1994). 'Hotel industrielJean-Baptiste Berlier', DominiquePerrault, arc en reve centred'architecture, Bordeaux andArtemis, Zurich, 1994, p. 43.

Pikionis, D. (1989). Dimitris PikionisArchitect 1887-1968, A SentimentalTopography, ArchitecturalAssociation, 1989, p. 68.

Price, C. (1996). 'Anticipating theunexpected', The Architects' Journal,5 Sept. 1996, pp. 27-39.

S.E.P.A., Scottish Environment

Protection Agency (1997). A Guide toSustainable Urban Drainage, 1997.

Sola-Morales, I. (1996). 'Terrain Vague',Quaderns d'Arquitectura I Urbanisme,212,1996, pp. 34-43-

Zanco, F. (1994). 'A way of working fora way of living', Domus, Oct. 1994,pp. 48-55.

The competitionStage 1 began in September 1997

with 40 participants: 33 selectedfrom practice submissions plusseven invited teams; 14 teamsprogressed to Stage 2 which beganin January 1998. It was judged inJune 1998.

1st prize Florian Beigel +Architecture Research Unit,University of North Londonwith Arup Environmental,London

2nd prize Daniel Libeskind, Berlin3rdprize Ernst Mayr, Architekt,

Vienna

The competition was organized and fundedby:

EIM EisenbahnimmobilienManagement GmbH and HABERENTGrundstucks GmbH

in consultation with:Senatsverwaltung fur Bauen, Wohnen

und VerkehrSenatsverwaltung fur

Florian Beigel and Philip Christou Time architecture: Stadtlandschaft Lichterfelde Sud, Berlin

design arq • V0I3 • 003 • 1999 219

Stadtentwicklung, Umweltschutzund Technologie,

dem Bezirksamt Steglitz von BerlinandGSW Gemeinnutzige Siedlungs-und

Wohnungsbaugesellschaft BerlinGmbH

Architectural competition judges:Prof. Heike Buttner, architect, BerlinProf. Barbara Jakubeit, architect,

Berlin, Senate and Building DirectorProf. Peter Kulka, architect, DresdenProf. Albert Speer, architect, FrankfurtProf. Thomas Sieverts, urban planner,

BonnProf. Luigi Snozzi, architect, LocarnoKarl Thomanek, landscape architect,

Berlin

Specialist competition judges in otherfields:

Dirk Grosse-Wodemann, EIMEisenbahnimmobilienManagement GmbH

Maximilian Hagen, HABERENTGrundsriicks GmbH

Klaus-Ulrich Keller, West Projekt &Consult GmbH

Norbert Kopp, Baustadtrat, BezirkSteglitz

Dr. Hans Stimmann, Staatssekretar,Senatsverwaltung furStadtentwicklung, Umweltschutzund Technologie

Guido Zielke, Bundesministerium furRaumordnung, Bauwesen undStadtebau

CreditsCompetition stage 1 design team:Architecture Research Unit, University

of North London(Florian Beigel, Eva Benito, Philip

Christou, Thomeu Esteva,Mehrnoosh Khadivi,

Marta Bayona Mas, Adrienne duMesnil and Alberto Sanchez)

withArup Environmental, London(David Ellis, landscape architect;

Dermot Scanlon, traffic planning)

Competition stage 2 design team:Architecture Research Unit, UNL(Peter Beard, Florian Beigel, Philip

Christou, Matthias Hartel, SvenKatzke, Mareike Lamm, MartaBayona Mas, Rafael BelaguerMontaner and Mariana Plana Ponte)

withArup Environmental, London

(Richard Bickers, hydrologist; AhmedBouariche, traffic planning; DavidEllis, landscape architect; GinnyHyde, ecologist; Claire Matthews,landscape architect; DermotScanlon, traffic planner; andLorna Walker, environmentalengineer)

Illustration creditsarq gratefully acknowledges the

following:Alvar Aalto Foundation 21b.Authors 1,3,5,8,10a and b, 11a and b,

12, ya-d, 14,15,16, i7a-d, 18,19,20,21a, 22,23a and b, 24a and b,25a-c.

Competition organizers 4,6, 9.OefTentliche Kunstsammlung Basel,

Kunstmuseum (photograph: MartinBuhler) 2.

Philip Misselwitz 7a and b.

BiographyFlorian Beigel is Professor of

Architecture at the University ofNorth London, where PhilipChristou also teaches. They are bothmembers of the ArchitectureResearch Unit which is directed byBeigel.

Time architecture: Stadtlandschaft Lichterfelde Siid, Berlin Florian Beigel and Philip Christou