RAW DIALOGWERKSTATT

BERLIN / 2017-2018
Cooperative development of a urban Masterplan

Team: Tobias Kusian, Katerina Mareckova, Klaus Overmeyer, Amadeus Theimer, Melanie Humann, Janin Walter

Role: project lead with Melanie Humann for URBAN CATALYST

Client: District Office Friedrichshain Kreuzberg of Berlin

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The site of the former Reichsbahn repair works - RAW for short - is one of the last major development areas within Berlin's S-Bahn ring. The approximately seven-hectare site is located in the south of the so-called "Simon-Dach-Kiez" in Berlin-Friedrichshain, not far from Berlin Ostbahnhof and the Kreuzberg Spree. The site is predominantly characterized by a building stock from the industrialization era and currently unused brownfield sites. The site has been the focus of urban development policy debates in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg for years. Following the end of its use as a railroad repair workshop, a lively interim use scene was able to establish itself here at the end of the 1990s. However, the open space for creatives quickly became an Eldorado for tourists looking for the "real" Berlin away from the tourist hotspots on the RAW site. The area is now so heavily used by the streams of tourists and night-time activities that all those involved would like to see the area developed programmatically and structurally into a lively district during the day as well. The RAW dialog process was designed by Urban Catalyst in such a way that the different and sometimes very conflicting interests, possibilities and wishes of all stakeholders involved could be identified, disclosed and compared. With the help of various forms of dialog, above all the public dialog workshops and the urban planning expert discussions, a consensus was reached between all participants that can be used as the basis for a future development strategy.