Layers of Gropius

Light, air and sun were the key words used by Bauhaus founder Gropius for the design of Berlin's Gropiusstadt in the 1950s. Completed in 1975, the reality had little in common with the original concept. The extreme redensification was now intended to create three times as much living space for 55,000 people.
The tenfold increase in the number of floor levels, up to 30 in some cases, meant that a lot more infrastructure had to be built, too. The originally generously planned parks ended up much smaller. Those outdoor spaces in the shadows of the residential blocks became problematic in terms of utilisation and safety. Although the estate was considered modern, with functional, light-flooded floor plans, many of the residents moved away. Increasingly, low-income people moved into the vacant flats and the social structure began to shift. Stories such as "Christiane F." and "Sun and Concrete" bear witness to this development, focussing on a downward social spiral.
Today, active countermeasures happen due to a commited neighbourhood management and also the activities of the Gropiusstadt community centre. Gropiusstadt stands for a multi-layered, lively and culturally extremely interesting neighbourhood. It is necessary to scrutinise how to deal with a negative image today. How can a stable self-esteem of a diverse resident structure be maintained in such a complex neighbourhood? How much influence do the media reports, which are mainly limited to lurid negative headlines, have? Deborah Dammasch takes you on a trip through the rough architectural landscape with an artistic view of the many layers of the concrete façades. The textures of these impressions ask for unmasking. Follow your own truth, check the facts and look into the emotional depths of space and time.