Future Urbanscape: Berlin's Kulturforum
2015–2017

A Collaborative Project with ANCB's Architecture Schools in Residence to instigate a broader urban and architecture discourse on the Kulturforum in Berlin: the planned location for a new Museum der Moderne. 

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS
This collaboration aims to: 

• offer an understanding of the Kulturforum, in the form of a set of 'readings' of the many dimensions of an urban landscape, 
• stimulate the local discourse on the Kulturforum in Berlin,
• explore next generation tools for urban planning and design in the context of participatory urban planning,
• benefit discourses on public space and buildings in the cities and countries of the participating universities, as well as the international discourse on urban design and architecture education and practice.

PROJECT CONTEXT: ABOUT THE KULTURFORUM

FORMATS, FOCI AND TIMEFRAME
The collaboration – with universities from Europe, North America, Australia and South America – is structured into three thematic phases:

Phase 1: June – July 2015
Urban Design Beyond Figureground: Readings and Representations of 'Scapes' of the Kulturforum
In their Design Studios, the universities shared broad-ranging methodologies to 'read' and to 'represent' the many layers (scapes) of the urban landscape in and around the Kulturforum. Illustrative of the remit of contemporary urban design, these 'readings + representations' were further explored in a collective workshop on 3 July 2015. Regular impulse talks from research and practice stimulated the studio work and exchange between the universities on a weekly basis.

Phase 2: September – October 2015
Projecting Future Scapes: Reframing Urban Design Agendas and Architecture Design Briefs
Building on the results of Phase 1, the Design Studios in Phase 2 trialled the initial steps of urban design approaches capable of responding to the identified urban landscape layers. These initial designs considered the role of additional buildings and spaces in the Kulturforum area and provided the spatial framework for an inclusionary public realm, a challenge crucial to contemporary cities everywhere. A symposium, which took place on 25 September 2015, explored how these additional agendas – illustrated by the design approaches of the studios – can be incorporated into briefs for architecture and urban design, and especially those for public buildings and spaces.

Phase 3: Spring 2016
Prototype Processes and Instruments for Public Buildings
This phase will explore the hypothetical future context of top-down meets bottom-up planning, outlining a prototype process and its component instruments for delivering public buildings in a city; with the Museum der Moderne as case study project and Berlin – already hailed as a role model in participatory urban panning - as case-study municipality.

OUTPUTS AND DISSEMINATION
Catalogue of Ideas: The outcomes are collected and critically reflected upon as ideas generated, exchanged and developed. The outcomes of Phase 1 can be accessed via the following links: