Tempelhof Common

The Tempelhof Airport in the center of Berlin has played an important role in the history of Germany. Once the hangars became home to refugees from East Berlin who had escaped to the ‘other side’ during the Cold War, and in 2015 the hangars were yet again used to house people seeking sanctuary.

Constructed in 1927, Tempelhof was one of Europe's most iconic pre-World War II airports. After several expansions by the Nazi regime, and when completed in 1941 it was one of the largest buildings in the world, a massive structure covering 300,000 square meters.

The airport ceased operating in 2008. Since September 2015, Tempelhof has functioned as an arrival center and the airplane hangars have been used as emergency accommodation for asylum seekers.

There has been numerous initiatives and proposals on how to transform the Tempelhof buildings (listed as a cultural heritage site) and how to reuse the vast outdoor spaces (the runways and the airfield, close to 400 hectares). Recently, the Berlin City government allowed extra refugee shelters to be built on a section of Tempelhof's airfield.

The In Transit 2 Studio visited the Tempelhof Arrival Center in October 2016. At the time of the visit, the airport served as a temporary home for approximately 1,200 refugees. The observations made during the visit can be summarized as following: The physical environment and lack of programs for common activities pacifies the residents; at the same time, there is no privacy or possibilities for being alone. The physical conditions are acceptable as a short-term solution (days), but not livable for longer periods – some of the residents had stayed there close to one year, at the time of the visit.

Creating common spaces, has been the guiding principle for this project. The main purpose of the Tempelhof Common project is to facilitate activities for the residents of the arrival center while waiting for their asylum applications to be processed. As an extension of the indoor space in Hangar 5, the outdoor area is populated with common structures that facilitates for a range of low-threshold, everyday activities.  The central idea of the project is to create a green strip and a set of pavilions that sit atop the tarmac, as to make a sense of place for in the vastness of the Tempelhof site. The pavilions are placed with some distance between them – this to allow the residents to walk, run, and move around in an environment that resembles a small portion of normal city or community. The pavilions are connected with a running track, with sports fields placed in-between.

The introduction of simple planting allotment boxes introduces greenery and allows for engagement in gardening. The allotment boxes are also marking the footpaths throughout the green strip, and function as site boundaries and protective fence. The pavilions, based on the same modular construction system, provide spaces for socializing and quiet time away from the busy and noisy hangar.