The new urban hotspot in Oberschöneweide
Grooving with some energy – the spirit of a campus in transformation
Standing (left to right): Fabian Stapel (TLM), Laura Stroszeck (Hillig Architekten), Thomas Hillig (Hillig Architekten), Georg Schmidthals (GRAFT), Julian Breinersdorfer (JBA), Kim Le Roux (LXSY), Barbara Sellwig (TLM), Nurcan Sahin (TLM), Anne Hommerich (KSP), Catalina Jardón (KSP), Cornelia Kohlhaupt (TLM), Thomas Willemeit (GRAFT) | Seated (left to right): Wiebke Ahues (LXSY), Valerie Kerz (LAVA), Heskel Nathaniel (TLM), Danielle Shapira (TLM), Hannes Meisehen (KSP), Sergei Tchoban (TVA), Almut Grüntuch-Ernst (Grüntuch Ernst)
Eight Berlin architecture firms will design the façades for the STATIONS buildings and contribute to making Funkytown a lighthouse project:
Julian Breinersdorfer, Graft Architekten, Grüntuch Ernst Architekten, Thomas Hillig Architekten, KSP Engel (master planning) LAVA, LXSY and TCHOBAN VOSS Architekten.
The Next Episode
The vision for Funkytown is a creative campus with a strong sense of community – a place where people come together to create, collaborate, and support one another.
In colaboration with eight Berlin-based architecture firms – Julian Breinersdorfer, Graft Architects, Grüntuch Ernst, KSP Engel, Hillig Architekten, LAVA, LXSY, and Tchoban Voss Architekten – the campus is evolving into a unique statement of urban development. Each firm has contributed its own vision for one of the so-called “STATIONS” and designed the façade of one of the eight new buildings. Together with the historic existing building “BLOCK-E,” which is being redesigned by Leipzig-based AIP Architekten, the eight STATIONS form an ecosystem that meaningfully connects people, spaces, nature, and the local neighborhood.
A legendary East Berlin hotspot is coming back to life
At the heart of the campus stands the original building: “BLOCK-E” – a reinforced concrete skeleton structure that lay abandoned for more time than it was ever in use. And after its shutdown, its name became synonymous as a “lost place”.
The transformation of this imposing building, which once housed the editorial offices of East Germany’s state broadcasting service (Rundfunk der DDR), is being led by Leipzig-based architecture firm AIP. The careful reinforcement of the structure and the energy-efficient refurbishment of the façade are extensive processes, essential for its future use as offices, studios, medical practices, and production spaces. The concept also includes preserving parts of the building’s striking graffiti wherever technically feasible.
BLOCK-E will also feature a new rooftop terrace, offering future users a unique space with panoramic views of the Spree River.
After the successful redevelopment of
BLOCK-E, the focus will shift to something new. The eight modern STATIONS will take on truly multifaceted purposes:
From culture, education, accommodation, hospitality, gastronomy, sports, ateliers to co-working. All according to designs by eight different Berlin architectural firms, because the future is clearly diversity.
Since the opening of the capital’s BER airport and the Tesla Giga Factory in Grünheide, businesses have increasingly turned their focus to the south-east of the city. This is the reason why Treptow-Köpenick is Berlin’s fastest growing distric. A “Neocity” is emerging here, which will be developed into a future-oriented growth region with new mobility options, new working environments, new forms of living and new green spaces.
Funkytown is making a contribution within this innovation corridor by creating a new quarter for a creative, international community with a wide range of offers and an attractive infrastructure.
Further information on the Neocity can be found here (German only).
© German Federal Archives
© Heitat für Senderfotos-bb.de
We want to remember, by preserving pictures, ideas, and stories.
For nearly thirty years, BLOCK-E on Rummelsburger Landstraße was home to the GDR youth radio station DT64, among other institutions.
For us, a transformation always begins by keeping in mind the very foundation of a place: its history and energy. Countless emotions and stories still resonate here, because so many people worked at BLOCK-E and in the neighboring Funkhaus Berlin. We would like to provide a special focus to some of the eyewitnesses of the events at that time. We will always be extremely grateful for the memories they shared with us. These include Elisabeth Heller with her extensive documentary website.
Alfred Eichhorn interview with Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski. May 2000
Elisabeth Heller, GDR radio broadcasts 1978-1991
© Scharwel | A. Pehlemann
Special thanks go Alexander Pehlemann, Jörg Wagner and Wolfgang Martin for their meticulous research, book publications, and the DT64 exhibition “Power from the Eastside”.
