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MVRDV completes colorful HAUS 1 office conversion in Berlin

2023-12-04T14:24:00-05:00

MVRDV has completed work on a vibrant new conversion project in Berlin called HAUS 1 that reworked an aging office building from 1997 into a new hub for innovation and community.

Other than the eye-catching canary color finish, the project is visually dominated by an extended grand external staircase. A new terraced timber pavilion space is enacted on the rooftop, completed by an arrangement of native plants and constructed using a palette of bio-based materials. Inside, floorplans are altered to maximize flexibility. Other important aspects of the design include low-temperature underfloor heating and a rainwater harvesting system that will help the building to function sustainably year-round.

Photo © Lukas Drobny

MVRDV founding partner Jacob van Rijs says: “The newly transformed HAUS 1 is more than a gateway to this unique campus devoted to impact. It is a representation of the Atelier Gardens community and their commitment to chart a different vision of society...

Housing plans at Berlin's Tempelhof airport blocked

2014-05-27T13:11:00-04:00

Berlin voters on Sunday decided leisure comes first and blocked plans to develop a big part of the former Tempelhof airport, the hub of the historic 1948-49 Berlin Airlift. [...] Official results based on more than four-fifths of ballots cast showed that over half of voters backed a referendum to preserve the airport as a leisure space. City officials had wanted to use about a third of the land for housing because of Berlin's growing population.

PBS's "UNUSUAL SPACES" profiles Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, "The Mother of All Airports"

2014-03-11T17:27:00-04:00

In the center of the sprawling metropolis of Germany's capital, Berlin-Tempelhof Airport stands as both a monument to a darker era in Germany's past and a link to its future.

Built on an airfield where the Wright Brothers once demonstrated their Flyer before a captive European audience, Tempelhof Airport was conceived by the leaders of the Third Reich as a architectural testament to the boundless ambition of German supremacy. Captured by the Soviet Army in 1945 before it could be completed, turned over to American forces following the Conference at Yalta, and then serving as West Berlin's lifeline to the free world during the Cold War, the airport was a central set piece in 20th century history.

After decades of dwindling postwar commercial operation following the construction of other regional airports, a referendum for its closure was narrowly approved in the mid-2000s. Since its official closure in 2008, however, a dramatic new vision for the airport has emerged...

Future of Berlin Airlift site hangs in balance

2014-01-28T17:07:00-05:00

A debate has raged over the future of Tempelhof Airport in the south of the city since its closure in 2008. Its open space is currently used for concerts and city gardening. [...] Architect Jens Oberst, whose library was among two winning designs selected by Berlin's Senate for the site in December, told The Local that the referendum would not influence his plans. He said: "We’re of the opinion that it is precisely our project which fits with a desire to have an open public space [...]"