Parent action group designs public playground
(Berlin)
This project has been put into the archive. The project details will not be updated anymore.
Source: S.T.E.R.N. GmbH, Berlin
In the redevelopment and district management area “Helmholtzplatz”, situated right at the centre of the densely developed urban district Prenzlauer Berg, the late 19th century block edge developments have largely been preserved. The redevelopment effort and the work of the district management is directed at improving the living environment and the public space. This includes the creation of permanent and temporary green spaces in order to ameliorate the extreme undersupply of open areas.
A small square on Senefelderstraße / corner of Stargarder Straße was already in use as a playground before the conversion. But once the concrete elephant the playground is named after had been removed in 1991, the square had almost exclusively been used as a shortcut or drug-trafficking location, collecting an increasing amount of refuse in the process. In 2001, local residents and parents from the neighbouring building established the „Parent Action Group Elephant Playground” to address this deplorable state of affairs. Their plans were financed from a "District Fund" provided by the Senate Administration within the "Social City“ programme. A resident jury discussed and decided on the aceptance or rejection of submitted projects as well as the amounts and conditions of the grants.
The newly designed playground was re-opened in May 2003.
Source: Büro Maigrün, Berlin
The makeover of the playground was carried out independently by the parent action group. The space was entrusted to the action group for the duration of the construction measures via transfer agreement so that the parents became “proper” private clients vested with all the entitlements and obligations this entails. Following the conclusion of the building measures, the occupier’s liability was transferred back to the district again.
The parent action group cooperated with a landscape architect in the planning. Work operations the action group could not accomplish independently were assigned to specialist firms. The planting of the playground was carried out by the residents. Some of the plants were provided by sponsors. A 70 m long, circular seating bench lends the space a circus arena feel. New playground facilities, two table-tennis tables and an additional planted area augment the design.
By virtue of the neighbourly involvement, the playground now finds ready acceptance. A children’s shop including toy hire and a children's theatre has settled immediately next door. The opening up of the fireproof parting wall of the building at Senefelder Straße nr. 8 towards the playground also contributes to social control. Care and maintenance activities for the facility are essentially undertaken by the parks department. The parent action group contributes to this independently with activities such as refuse collection. The operators of a café on the ground floor have drawn up a maintenance agreement obliging them to carry out all maintenance activities in the square in future in return for the permission to place some tables on the periphery of the site.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2001 | Establishment of the parent action group |
| 2001 | Assistance application to the district fund |
| 2002 | Finance allocation through resident jury |
| 2002 | Transfer agreement |
| 2002 | Start of construction measures managed independently by the action group |
| 2002 | Unsealing and demolition by the district authority |
| 2003 | Inauguration of the redesigned playground |
Source: Büro Maigrün, Berlin
Source: Büro Maigrün, Berlin
Source: Büro Maigrün, Berlin
A parent action group became the client for the redesign of a public playground in a redevelopment area. The project, which was concluded successfully in a very short period of time, showed that high-quality projects can be realized despite a scarcity of funds, given plenty of independent commitment and targeted professional support.
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 10437 - town: Berlin - street: Senefelderstraße, Ecke Stargarder Straße.
Record inserted on 18.08.2005 by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) within the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR).
Last update: 19.08.2008
