Page 9 - C.A.L.L. #41 - Summer 2016

The inhabitants of the Berlin project "Spreefeld" weren't particularly thrilled with the fact that a growing
number of homeless people began using the green areas. "This is a fight that has to be fought from the
beginning to the very end," Strobl says.

So how much public
life should be allowed
in communal areas?
How do you choose
the inhabitants? And
are they really willing
to pay for something
that, in the end, can
be used by everyone?
The development
process is always
stressful, and the
exhibition addresses
this. Every project is
introduced not only
with a Koopmann film
but also with a kind of
notice board where
confusing words are
Communal dining space, Spreefeld. Photo: Ute Zscharnt written — things like
flexi rooms, cluster
apartments and speculation withdrawal, in addition to mind-boggling layouts that will baffle architecture
novices.

All of this reflects the confusion that people who plan such a project will encounter along the way. But
the exhibition aids the visitor with wall panels and a handy guide book that explain the meaning of all
these communal terms and notions.

Flexi rooms, for example, are rooms "that, if necessary, can be rented for a short period of time," say for
the aging and ailing mother or the pubescent teenager. Cluster apartments are those that surround a
central, shared living room, something along the lines of a flat-share for adults. Speculation withdrawal
means that "no individual profit can be made due to communal ownership."

It is precisely this relinquishment of profit that is essential for these projects to function. The basic
concept of solidarity would no longer work if one person within the group attempted to sell their
apartment to the highest bidder, given that it was a collective that developed the project. How would
you even put a price tag on all these endless discussions? It should also be kept in mind that everyone
paid for the communal areas, after all.

The exhibition only explores rental communities despite the fact that house building communities are
becoming increasingly popular. These often produce architecturally stimulating and appealing houses,
but these are in the end nothing more than privately owned terraced houses.

Above all, the exhibition highlights that the development of one of these buildings only really begins
when it has been built and the inhabitants move in, as they grow older and their needs change. An
investor wouldn't care, but a communal residency group does care. And cities should most definitely
care too.

! 8