Hansaviertel Architecture
Workshop #5

Max Ernst Stockburger organized a tour which explicitly focused on the urban planning history of the city during the Cold War. He therefore cooperated with Poligonal, a collective of architects that conducts guided tours through Berlin, explaining how politics and especially the Cold War have shaped its urban space. For this tour the guide focused on the Hansaviertel, a planned urban area in the west of Berlin. It was constructed in the course of the “Internationale Bauausstellung” in the late 1950s. The purpose of this project was to envision a new way of building and living that incorporates Western ideals and democratic values. It was built as a counterpart to the Soviet housing project at “Stallinallee” in East Berlin. In total 14 students, aged 16 to 17, attended the workshop. They were accompanied by their art teacher Steffen Lasch from Hannah-Arendt-Gymnasium in Neukölln-Rudow.

The workshop was conducted by Stockburger, a documentary photographer, and his assistant Sarah Schneider, a photography student from HS Hannover. Stockburger grew up directly next to a U.S. military installation in southern Germany, which has deeply shaped his work. For more than a decade, he has been working on photography projects dealing with the U.S. The guided tour through Hansaviertel was conducted by Lukas Staudinger, an architect and educator working at Poligonal.

Nikon supported this workshop with 10 Nikon Z50 loan cameras, which were handed to the students for documenting what they like about the buildings and architecture.

The group gathered at close at S-Bahn station Bellevue and from there entered the Hansaviertel. At the beginning of the tour Lukas Staudinger, the guide from Poligonal, gave a brief overview over the history of the area. He explained that the neighborhood had been densely populated until the war, but was then completely destroyed during World War II. The space, however, was not rebuilt after the war. In the rise of the Cold War the Western forces and the newly founded Federal Republic of Germany decided to use this space to carry out the “Internationale Bauausstellung”. The area should be completely rebuilt and become the center of western architecture. At the center of this was the idea of creating the future way of living according to Western ideals and democracy. For this purpose, the organizers invited the most influential Western architects to realize their designs. Staudinger futhermore explained that this was a direct reaction to the newly built Soviet urban planning project “Stalinalle,” in East Berlin. He explained that the ideologies of the East and the West have deeply shaped the urban landscape of Berlin. No other city in the world combines these two ideologies in its urban design.

Staudinger started his tour at the “Akademie der Künste” from there on the class wandered around the area and was asked to photograph whatever they find interesting in the design of the buildings. Staudinger elaborated that the design of the buildings were heavily influenced by the ideas coming from the U.S. One student noted that the buildings do not look at all like the U.S. whereas, Staudinger explained, that it’s not so much about the physical resemblance of American houses, but more about the ideals behind that. He there by showed the class two very different examples. First, he pointed out that this area was developed with the car in mind. Each apartment house was directly accessible by car. Furthermore, each building had its own parking area directly assigned to it. The second, more important part is more subtle. He walked the class to another building and pointed at the steel construction surrounding the balconies. Staudinger explained, that although all apartments were built in the same style and manner, the architects always had the individual living in there in mind. The light steel frame of the balconies was built in a way, that each resident was able to use it and decorate it in their manner. The idea clearly was that not everyone is the same, but that each person can express who they are by the way they are living.

Staudinger then guided the class to the floating building of Oscar Niemeyer. The building seems to be hovering above the ground, as it has been built on multiple stilts. After engaging with the class and asking them about their impression of the building, he continued to explained that the architect wanted to completely rethink the city landscape. He wanted to show that the people of modern Western societies are not ruled by old traditions. They are free both in the sense of being technically capable to build a building hovering above the ground, but also setting them free and allow their eyes to penetrate the building. This is also the reason why there are so many green spaces between the buildings. The final stop of the tour was the “Hansabibliothek.” Staudinger again told the class how this is related to the ideology of the West. He pointed out, that for Western ideology, it was important to educate people and allow them to be critical of their surroundings and world they live in. This is why the library was a central part of the neighborhood. Everybody should be encouraged to go there and educate themselves. After the tour had finished Staudinger asked the youth what they’ve taken home with them. One youth said, that she didn’t know that Berlin is such a unique place in the world and that buildings themselves can carry so much history. The class agreed, and another youth added, that she always thought freedom means living in a huge house and owning a lot of land, but that she can now understand how they architects tried to implement these ideas in their designs. Staudinger agreed and told the class to always keep their eyes open in their hometown, and that every building has its own story to tell.