Into the wild – design studio for Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg

The Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin was created on the rubble of Alexanderplatz. Today, few people stray into the thicket of the seemingly wild park – but it is a valuable habitat for numerous wild animals. In the winter semester of 2022/23, Master’s students of landscape architecture and environmental planning at TU Berlin explored the park in a design studio. Professor Stefan Reimann, who led the studio together with Professor Barbara Hutter, introduces the background to the students’ work.

It’s not just in our September 2023 issue that we make space for student projects. Students also present their own work here on our website. You can find all the projects on our “Studies” topic page – and the September issue is available in our store.

The Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg is a 29-hectare park on the eastern edge of the Pankow district of Berlin – created from the former Oderbruchkippe. A group of 14 master’s students at the Institute of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning (ILAUP), Department of Landscape Architecture/Object Design (FG-LOB) at the TU Berlin took a closer look at the park. The design studio “Into the wild” took place under the direction of Professor Barbara Hutter and Professor Stefan Reimann in the winter semester 2022/23.

The western part of the park is formed by a double peak of rubble, which at its highest point rises around 90 meters above the level of the surrounding urban quarters. Originally, allotment gardens and detached houses were built here from 1871 onwards as part of Berlin’s industrial boom. After 1945, when reconstruction began, the rubble from Alexanderplatz was deposited here. The so-called “Oderbruchkippe” was created from around 15 million cubic meters of spoil. Topsoil was applied to the newly remodeled area and grass was sown. Pioneer trees (poplars, ash, maple, robinia, willows) were planted over a large area and later supplemented with higher quality trees.

The park was officially opened in 1969. As a result, a forest-like biotope was created with 60 percent woodland and 40 percent meadow areas. Since 1971 there has been a botanical nature trail, and from1979 there was a wetland biotope (now silted up) and an adventure playground (which also no longer exists). A toboggan hill remained as a simple relict, with sand bees settling on the edges. With 57 bird species and numerous other wild animals, it is a valuable habitat.

The Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg is captivating – both in summer and winter – with its wild, unpretentious, rough but atmospheric appearance. Few people stray into the impressive thicket or the high meadow plateaus. The dense vegetation does not allow any views of the surroundings. The porous subsoil of the rubble makes the trees appear parched in summer, suffering from the increasing drought. Deadwood is not removed, but left on site, to the delight of the fauna, and road safety is just about guaranteed. The asphalt paths are partly broken up, they rise and fall in waves due to the root pressure of the trees. The sparse, dilapidated facilities reinforce the neglected impression. A public park in a deep sleep, waiting to be discovered. The Pankow district office is aware of the need for action and extensive mapping of the flora and fauna is already underway.

The place immediately and permanently fascinated the participants with its special aura.

You have experienced the park in brilliant autumn leaves, on gray days with rain and fog. You know it with muddy leaves, in winter with snow as well as its savannah atmosphere in scorching heat and drought in August. The variety of shaggy, vegetative structures and their haptic, sensual qualities in an urban context are surprising, as are the thousands of trees and many animal species that are known but remain largely invisible to visitors, just like the lush topography of the park.

In the studio, this special aura of the place was to be taken into account by attempting to design three characteristically pointed variants. The variants do not seek compromises between the different interests, but deliberately show a clear edge. A theme should be worked through consistently down to the last detail.

Three scenarios were specified for the design work:

Animal Park: Is this allowed in an urban context, does it make sense? A park where the focus is on the animals and not the people, where habitats for animals are not developed as an alibi, but consciously on an equal footing, at least striving for coexistence. Careful handling of the valuable stock and clever visitor guidance play a special role here.

Climatize: Climate control, the big issue of our time, is the second scenario. The focus here is on adapting the park to climate change. How can the park’s tree population be developed sustainably, i.e. for the future, through transformation? What can contemporary rainwater management look like at this point?

Human Nature: In this scenario, the focus is on people and their (special) needs for this place with its special character. A park also tailored to unusual uses, downhill biking or climbing forest, nothing is impossible, plants and animals are rather secondary here.

With the dedicated support of Dipl.-Ing. Susanne Isabel Yacoub (laview) for landscape architecture and video, the studio initially began with a rational, classic analysis of the history of the site, the qualities of the urban and open space planning environment and the Volkspark itself. This was complemented by an emotional, sensual analysis, the feeling of the place with tours and joint brainstorming, a photo and video documentation. The students then worked on these individually in the form of an experimental analysis video, collages or as an installation and transferred them into an initial, quick weekly impromptu.

In the traditional way, the participants each developed a concept idea and worked through the design based on it individually. As a special feature, videos were also created that represent the students’ designs, an experimental novelty. This resulted in 14 very different works, which were worked through in detail in the design and explore the range of possibilities for this special place. The six works presented here represent excerpts from the variety of ideas and designs that were created as part of the “Into the wild” studio. All videos can be found on Instagram at @fg.lob.

The representatives of the Pankow district authority were delighted with the final presentation. They would like to purchase ideas and take up the studio management’s wish to make Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg fit for the future as part of a competition process.

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• “Diversity” by Anh Thu Pham
• “The quartet – four intensities. One park.” by Johanna König
• “Non Hotspots” by Jannes Klipp
• “Round about nature” by Marlene Werner
• “Riding the Hills” by Sabine Seemann
• “In constant change” by Svenja Jarrath