Control, pt. 1: Jüdischer Friedhof auf Schönhauser Allee SUMMER 2014 Kristina Yu Kristina Yu Reflections on the Jewish Cemetery on Schönhauser Allee, Berlin Subject Professor Housing and Technology Housing and Technology Course Despite the incredible physical and intellectual environment of Berlin, it was hard to deny the overwhelm- ing sense of obligation to a heavy history. And while the representational modes of said history were varied, the site I found myself partial to was the Jüdischer Friedhof (Jewish Cemetery) on Schönhauser Allee in Prenzlauer Berg. It was established in 1827 as the late-medieval Jewish cemetery on Große Ham- burger Straße became full. Encompassing 12.5 acres, it is situated on a triangular plot flanked by the Wilhelminian tenement housing blocks of Kollwitzstraße and Wörtherstraße. Beneath linden, chestnut and maple trees are 25,000 graves, existing as exemplars of entropy. Sheared, toppled, molded, crumbling, veiled (in ivy), the graves call to mind a quote of Bob van Reeth: “Architecture does not pass in time, time passes in architecture.” Ultimately language, including architecture meant to be read as text, functions as mere proxy to actual experience and feeling. Straightforward architecture like the cemetery, however, possesses a distinct level of clarity and reality. A clarity that reminds us what it means to be human, and a reality that allows for varied interpretations. It creates meaning, discreetly. It does not attempt to dictate how one should feel, it merely provides a singular environment for infinite individual (and collective) experiences. In the case of the cemetery, this includes a confrontation with mortality, as well as the consolatory connection with a continuity that is much larger than ourselves and the present moment. In light of Berlin’s history, this reali- zation was particularly poignant at the Jüdischer Friedhof on Schönhauser Allee. Instead of attempting the impossible task of fully describing the history and persecution of Berlin’s Jewish population, the cemetery makes no statement at all. As the age of the cemetery increases, the caretakers have made the decision to present reality as found. This decision has yielded a quiet elegance, easily more powerful than any attempt to overtly control the experience. It allows visitors to fill in the blanks for themselves, creating a different kind of engagement. Rather than present the dirt, dust, decay and destruction as marginal to the architecture, it is accepted as integral. In 2005 a Lapidarium (housing a number of restored headstones and an information office) was designed by Golan-Zareh Architekten, which could potentially have converted the site into a touristic destination in the vein of other historical sites in the city. Luckily, the Lapidarium is beautifully ordinary and inconspicu- ous. Indeed, the experience is not about the Lapidarium, and luckily the architects were humble enough to secede their potential control of the experience of the cemetery. Its quiet situation on Schönhauser Allee, in the most ordinary place it could be- facing the street, continuing the perimeter of buildings surrounding the block, is further indication of this attitude. The refusal of the Lapidarium to interfere with the experience of the cemetery is in keeping with the larger decision not to engage with restoration technology on the site. This aspect of production yields a reticent strength, establishing a baseline of dignified minimalism with which to consider other memorials.

Control, pt. 1

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Jüdischer Friedhof auf Schönhauser Allee

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Control, pt. 1: Jüdischer Friedhof auf Schönhauser AlleeSUMMER 2014

Kristina YuKristina Yu

Reflections on the Jewish Cemetery on Schönhauser Allee, BerlinSubject

Professor

Housing and TechnologyHousing and TechnologyCourse

Despite the incredible physical and intellectual environment of Berlin, it was hard to deny the overwhelm-ing sense of obligation to a heavy history. And while the representational modes of said history were varied, the site I found myself partial to was the Jüdischer Friedhof (Jewish Cemetery) on Schönhauser Allee in Prenzlauer Berg. It was established in 1827 as the late-medieval Jewish cemetery on Große Ham-burger Straße became full.

Encompassing 12.5 acres, it is situated on a triangular plot flanked by the Wilhelminian tenement housing blocks of Kollwitzstraße and Wörtherstraße. Beneath linden, chestnut and maple trees are 25,000 graves, existing as exemplars of entropy. Sheared, toppled, molded, crumbling, veiled (in ivy), the graves call to mind a quote of Bob van Reeth: “Architecture does not pass in time, time passes in architecture.”

Ultimately language, including architecture meant to be read as text, functions as mere proxy to actual experience and feeling. Straightforward architecture like the cemetery, however, possesses a distinct level of clarity and reality. A clarity that reminds us what it means to be human, and a reality that allows for varied interpretations. It creates meaning, discreetly. It does not attempt to dictate how one should feel, it merely provides a singular environment for infinite individual (and collective) experiences. In the case of the cemetery, this includes a confrontation with mortality, as well as the consolatory connection with a continuity that is much larger than ourselves and the present moment. In light of Berlin’s history, this reali-zation was particularly poignant at the Jüdischer Friedhof on Schönhauser Allee. Instead of attempting the impossible task of fully describing the history and persecution of Berlin’s Jewish population, the cemetery makes no statement at all.

As the age of the cemetery increases, the caretakers have made the decision to present reality as found. This decision has yielded a quiet elegance, easily more powerful than any attempt to overtly control the experience. It allows visitors to fill in the blanks for themselves, creating a different kind of engagement. Rather than present the dirt, dust, decay and destruction as marginal to the architecture, it is accepted as integral.

In 2005 a Lapidarium (housing a number of restored headstones and an information office) was designed by Golan-Zareh Architekten, which could potentially have converted the site into a touristic destination in the vein of other historical sites in the city. Luckily, the Lapidarium is beautifully ordinary and inconspicu-ous. Indeed, the experience is not about the Lapidarium, and luckily the architects were humble enough to secede their potential control of the experience of the cemetery. Its quiet situation on Schönhauser Allee, in the most ordinary place it could be- facing the street, continuing the perimeter of buildings surrounding the block, is further indication of this attitude.

The refusal of the Lapidarium to interfere with the experience of the cemetery is in keeping with the larger decision not to engage with restoration technology on the site. This aspect of production yields a reticent strength, establishing a baseline of dignified minimalism with which to consider other memorials.