Re-Invent MORITZPLATZ! is a juried design competition to re-imagine this neglected crossroads at the heart of Berlin. The competition is open to everyone, not just professional designers. In fact, we encourage architects and city planners to develop their proposals in partnership with non-profit groups to ensure community involvement in the design. We also encourage students to offer their creative ideas.
Choose a specific community group or non-profit organization and submit a design idea for Moritzplatz with that group as your fictitious client. What do they need? What does Mortizplatz need? What does Berlin need? Consider social and environmental responsibility in your design proposal.
Proposals should include two components:
· A new functional program that capitalizes on Moritzplatz's vibrant social and commercial context.
· A new architectural identity that celebrates Moritzplatz as a physical and cultural crossroads.
Introduction To Moritzplatz:
Before World War II, Moritzplatz was a bustling commercial center comparable to Potsdamer Platz and Alexanderplatz. Today it is an undistinguished traffic circle surrounded by empty land. Left to market forces, these empty spaces will be filled by piecemeal housing and commercial development. RE-INVENT MORITZPLATZ is looking for schemes that maximize the potential of this exciting location by uniting these empty spaces into one bold and cohesive master plan.
Before World War II, Moritzplatz was a bustling commercial hub at the west end of Oranienstraße. The owners of the Wertheim store on the south corner - one of the world's first department stores - convinced planners to redirect the U8 subway line to Moritzplatz and provide an entrance directly into their building. The Moritzplatz U bahn station opened on April 6, 1928, but the Wertheim store and most of the surrounding area were destroyed by bombing raids in February 1945.
Moritzplatz never recovered. During the Cold War, Prinzenstraße was closed off by the nearby Berlin Wall, and Moritzplatz, like the surrounding Kreuzberg district, languished as an isolated corner of West Berlin. Reconstruction plans were further thwarted by a long-planned urban motorway with a junction at Moritzplatz which was never built.
Moritzplatz II: Today
Moritzplatz never recovered. During the Cold War, Prinzenstraße was closed off by the nearby Berlin Wall, and Moritzplatz, like the surrounding Kreuzberg district, languished as an isolated corner of West Berlin. Reconstruction plans were further thwarted by a long-planned urban motorway with a junction at Moritzplatz which was never built.
Moritzplatz II: Today
After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Moritzplatz once again found itself at the center of a reunited Berlin. Prinzenstraße and the U8 subway line were reopened linking Kreuzberg to Alexanderplatz, the revitalized commercial center of East Berlin. Oranienstraße blossomed with a mix of new bars, cafes and restaurants but retained its edgy political identity by hosting annual street parties celebrating May 1st and the alternative CSD (Gay Pride) events. However, none of this new energy has yet found its way to Moritzplatz.
With its central location and easy access to public transportation, the square seems destined for commercial development and gentrification. However, Berlin suffers from a glut of generic apartment buildings and shopping malls. We propose that any development at Moritzplatz should aspire to higher programmatic, social, environmental and architectural goals.
Moritzplatz is a cultural crossroads. It is surrounded by a unique mix of communities - Turks and other immigrants, artists and musicians, gays and lesbians, punks and anarchists, as well as middle class families coming from around the globe. Only by celebrating these communities and incorporating their diverse needs into the planning can Moritzplatz be reborn as a vibrant new hub.
Criteria for choosing winning PROJECTS
The Jury will be asked to chose Projects that:
With its central location and easy access to public transportation, the square seems destined for commercial development and gentrification. However, Berlin suffers from a glut of generic apartment buildings and shopping malls. We propose that any development at Moritzplatz should aspire to higher programmatic, social, environmental and architectural goals.
Moritzplatz is a cultural crossroads. It is surrounded by a unique mix of communities - Turks and other immigrants, artists and musicians, gays and lesbians, punks and anarchists, as well as middle class families coming from around the globe. Only by celebrating these communities and incorporating their diverse needs into the planning can Moritzplatz be reborn as a vibrant new hub.
Criteria for choosing winning PROJECTS
The Jury will be asked to chose Projects that:
· Propose a program for the site with a mix of functions appropriate to its cultural context and history
· Create a new and distinctive physical identity for Moritzplatz
· Actively engage with a local community group or non-governmental organization in the development of the program and the physical design
· Build on Berlin's tradition of urban experimentation.
· Celebrate Kreuzberg's 'outsider' communities and encourage interaction between them
· Use compelling graphics to demonstrate the creative solution to the problem
Submission Requirements:
1 A0 poster: orientation = Portrait
(Photographs, Paintings and all other creative Submissions will be accepted as long as they fit the exact size requirements and can easily be hung vertically on a wall.)
1 500 word (1 page max) description of the project.
How to Submit:
TBD
How To Register:
TBD
Entry Fees:
Deadline:
TBD
Jury:
TBD
Submission Requirements:
1 A0 poster: orientation = Portrait
(Photographs, Paintings and all other creative Submissions will be accepted as long as they fit the exact size requirements and can easily be hung vertically on a wall.)
1 500 word (1 page max) description of the project.
How to Submit:
TBD
How To Register:
TBD
Entry Fees:
25 Euro per team
Schedule:
TBDSchedule:
Deadline:
TBD
Jury:
TBD
