resilient monument

Resilient monument | school as a common good aims to draw attention to the iconic monuments of post-war modernism using the example of the orange pop art school center. In an utterly changed spacial and social context close to the former Berlin Wall a neighborhood-integrated educational center reactivates the architectural heritage. Through repair, restoration, soil unsealing and an ecological extension building it combines intergenerational education, neighborhood, urban ecology and public space. A reinterpretation of the concept of school as a networked, adaptable common good of education.

With its orange pop art aesthetic, the listed building shapes the surrounding post-war residential area. Like many modernist icons in Berlin, the school, now vacant for 13 years, faces decay and probably demolition. Although it has become a social anchor in the neighborhood with its public neighborhood functions and still has great potential for identification today, the political will to revive the location is lacking. In addition to reactivating the original public facilities (library, school forum, adult education center), the social opening is to be complemented by an interactive neighborhood center that bundles already existing neighborhood activities. A new cafeteria with an adjoining public café aims to encourage informal neighborhood networking, and a daycare center, tutoring school, hands-on workshop and stationery store will be added in the spirit of an intergenerational educational center. The exterior becomes public space and, with targeted vegetation planning, provides a favorable microclimate as well as ecologically valuable urban spaces. Redefining the school as a networked public educational space, the project aims to serve the community in a sustainable, multidimensional way. The design integrates contemporary pedagogical, energy, and ecological standards while maintaining the idealistic essence of the original architecture. The inner lightning conditions in the existing building get improved by introducing an atrium, reinforcing spatial axes that connect to an extension building. This counterpart remains subordinate to the monument, mediating between the architectural heritage and sustainable educational architecture.