It’s a surreal experience to step out onto an airport runway, surrounded by 300 hectares of grassland, and see thousands of people enjoying the sunset. Tempelhof Airport in Berlin was shut down in October 2008, but was opened to the public as a park while a planning process was ongoing. It is an innovative and refreshing decision on the part of the City to allow interim uses to inform and be integrated into the planning process for the space.
For several years spontaneous and informal temporary use of undeveloped land has been typical in many parts of Berlin. Tempelhof Park marks the first time pioneering and interim use will be specifically integrated into a planning process – as the driving force behind a procedural and participatory approach to urban development.
– Notice board in the Park
Tempelhof Airport and Park (tempelhoferfreiheit.de)
Tempelhof Park in the evening (photo: Andrew T Jones)
Tempelhof Airport Terminal (photo: Andrew T Jones)
The airport terminal, originally built in 1927 and later reconstructed in 1941 by the Nazi Government, is an imposing structure that curves around one end of the park. Tempelhof played a key role during the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and the Cold War period as the primary point of access to West Berlin.
Today, little has changed since the airport ceased operations in 2008, and people are free to wander pretty much anywhere in the 303 hectare space. It’s an incredible place to get some exercise – there were people on bikes and rollerblades using the perfectly flat runways – and certain grass areas have been designated BBQ and picnic zones.
Main runway at Tempelhof (photo: Andrew T Jones)
Runway with Terminal building in distance (photo: Andrew T Jones)
What I found fascinating was that people, given the opportunity to participate, pioneer and use, were peacefully and creatively doing their thing. A entire section between two runways was being developed into community garden plots.
Garden plots in Tempelhof (photo: Andrew T Jones)
Fresh greens growing in Tempelhof (photo: Andrew T Jones)
Others were using the opportunity to go for an evening walk. Or camp out with the family for an afternoon.
Tempelhof and Fernsehturm in distance (photo: Andrew T Jones)
All of this represents the epitome of participatory planning, in which interim and creative uses are directly integrated into planning the future of the park.
The new usage concepts and forms have strategic importance, either as temporary activities or programmes that will eventually give way to a long-term planned usage, or to projects that become permanently established at the site.
Pioneering uses at Tempelhof
The following drawing is the outcome of the process thus far, and indicates the park will not remain in its relatively bare state. Anyone interested in learning more about the redevelopment and planning process at Tempelhof can visit the Tempelhofer Freiheit website here.
Future vision (tempelhoferfreiheit.de)
For the first time in history most people on the planet live in urban settings. There are few places left in the world more than a day’s travel from a city. The growth of cities, both in population and area, will be a creative challenge for this and future generations. So it makes sense when covering a unit on “cities” or researching Spanish-speaking countries to engage students in considering what makes a place livable and how to achieve it.
The Green Map system (available in five languages) provides a set of internationally recognized icons to map the places in a city that make it sustainable, inclusive and healthy or that, conversely, detract from these goals.
A few ideas:
Map where you live. One way to use the Green Map icons is to map the community where you live or even map your school campus. Students choose the icons…
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urbanculturalstudies 