2009
Plattenpalast - Berlin - Germany

Plattenpalast is an art space, a place of remembrance, and a prototype all at once.
It was developed as part of a research project at Technische Universität Berlin to demonstrate the possibilities of an economically efficient re-assembly of components from a Plattenbau apartment building.
To create it, wiewiorra hopp architekten used thirteen concrete slabs from a standard, demolished apartment building (type WBS-70), some of which were cut to fit.
After an initial trial period, during which it was erected in an experimental hall of the university, the Plattenpalast went on to serve as a private gallery located in a courtyard in Berlin’s Mitte district, where it now shows contemporary art across thirty-five square meters every Sunday.
At the end of 2008, components from the Palast der Republik were added to the building, which had been demolished to accommodate the highly controversial reconstruction of the Berlin Stadtschloss.
The bronze glass windows of the former East German showpiece are directly connected with the gray remains of the GDR legacy, the Plattenbau.
Despite the success of this experiment, as well as related research and certification efforts by the architects, the reuse of such slabs has, with little exception, not prevailed; transport and logistic costs are too high.
In eastern Germany, the buildings continue to be conventionally demolished, with road gravel produced from the slabs.

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Architecture as Resource / Imprint