Archinect - News

GRAFT revitalizes historical post office into mixed-use brick complex

2020-11-05T11:52:00-05:00

GRAFT has revitalized a historical post office in Berlin, expanding it with two buildings and converting the existing rooftops into commercial spaces. Accessible to the public, the new complex includes offices, restaurants, retail space, and apartments.

The original post office building is protected as a historical monument. The existing structures create several courtyards, which have been renewed in this project. Moreover, brick facades were used for the new buildings to situate the additions within the historical aesthetic.

Open plans fill the commercial space, creating a barrier-free fluidity and flexibility for tenants. Additional windows were added to the upper levels, allowing fresh entry for natural light within the buildings.

"Unbuilding Walls" German Pavilion in Architecture Biennale 2018 addresses division

2018-04-06T19:00:00-04:00

Last April GRAFT was announced as Curators of the German Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale 2018. The exhibition, "Unbuilding Walls", focuses on the parallel of the Berlin Wall's lifespan and Germany's unity both being 28 years.

The exhibition responds to current debates on nations, protectionism and division. In the German Pavilion, GRAFT and Marianne Birthler will take the parallel as an opportunity to explore the effects of division and the process of healing as a dynamic spatial phenomenon. With reference to “Freespace,” the central theme of the Architecture Biennale proposed by Grafton Architects, special focus will be given to outstanding examples of urban and architectural design that address aspects of division and integration.

Axel-Springer-High-rise. Image: Axel Springer SE.

An example project is the Axel-Springer-Campus. This former death strip between Kreuzburg and Mitte is the site of the new campus building for Axel Springer designed by OMA. The design by Rem Koolha...

Street art museum opens in Berlin and presents itself as canvas

2017-09-21T14:31:00-04:00

Street art is the ultimate form of democracy according to the curators of the new Museum for Urban Contemporary Art that has just opened in Berlin. But does street art belong in exhibition halls? [...] Construction for the Urban Nation Museum of Urban Contemporary Art began in May 2016. A late-19th century house in the Berlin district of Schöneberg was redesigned by German architecture studio Graft.

Image: Graft, via dw.com.

In Deutsche Welle's interview with Yasha Young, the artistic director of the new Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, Young defends the need for a permanent home for street art: "Yes, street art belongs to the street and should stay there. The label "Museum for Street Art," although we often use it ourselves, is not quite accurate. We are much more: the museum is designed to be mobile, to connect the outside and the inside. The façade of the house always changes, which means the art that is created out there can be dismantled, changed and exhibited inside."

'Unbuilding walls': GRAFT Announced as Curators of the German Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale 2018

2017-08-17T13:07:00-04:00

Today the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) announced that the curators of the German Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale 2018 will be Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz and Thomas Willemeit of GRAFT together with Marianne Birthler. The architects were selected by the ministry on the recommendation of the selection committee for their submission to the open competition entitled “UNBUILDING WALLS”, which responds to current debates on nations, protectionism and division.

As the world grows together, walls are increasingly being discussed and built that divide people from one another. Walls can denote division, power and exclusion, but also protection.

In 2018, Germany will be reunified for 28 years – exactly as long as the inner German border wall (1961-1989) existed. In the German Pavilion, GRAFT and Marianne Birthler take this parallel as an opportunity to explore the effects of division and the process of healing as a...