SPACE November 2024 (No. 684)
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons / ©Matti Blume
Project Tempelhof Feld
Location Tempelhofer Damm 12101, Berlin, Germany
Site area 3,801,652m2
Airport completion 1923 (completion), 1941 (expansion)
Park opening 2010 –
Image courtesy of Tempelhof Projekt GmbH / ©Claudius Pflug
1923 Tempelhof Airport completed
1941 Tempelhof Airport expanded under the Nazi regime
2008 Decision made to close Tempelhof Airport
2010 Opened to the public as a park
Sep. 2010 Berlin City announces a master plan to leave 75% of the space open and develop 25% for residential, commercial, and public library use
Apr. 2011 A collaboration between GROSS. MAX (landscape) + Sutherland Hussey Architects (architecture) wins the master plan competition
2014 A public referendum, led by the citizens’ group ‘100% Tempelhof Feld’, votes to preserve the entire park as a park, with a majority vote in favour
2024 Berlin City announces plans to develop Tempelhof Feld for residential use
2024 ‘100% Tempelhof Feld’ begins collecting signatures for a petition to designate Tempelhof Feld as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
2026 Berlin City plans to hold a design competition for residential use
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons / ©A.fiedler
Citizens Who Took Part in The Competition, Citizens Who Supported Preservation
Since its completion in 1923, Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport served as a terminal. And during the Nazi regime, it was expanded using forced labour and even functioned as a labour camp. After it closed down, the airport was transformed into a park in 2010, and it’s now larger than New York’s Central Park by 100,000 pyeong. When Central Park was completed in 1876, there was pushback from those who believed housing development would be a more suitable use of the space. The idea that a large, empty space in a city should be developed isn’t unique to New York—it applies to Berlin, too.
Tempelhof Airport has long been a battleground between development and preservation. Citing the city’s housing shortage, Berlin City proposed that 75% of the park remain as open space, while 25% be develop...
