Projeete de Yvonne Rudolph, ETH-Zurlch , 1987.

Un pro j e e te pe r a M o a bit Els programes d'av ui di asembla que hagin perdut el poder de gene-rar formes d 'expressi que puguin passar la prova de comparaci amb exemples deis segles XIX i XX. Algunes de les raons d'aquest fet es poden trobar en el fenomen en virtut del qual el sector pblic es troba menyscabat en favor de la propietat completamenr privada o en la perdua d'impordncia del sector de fabricaci en favor del sector de serveis. A di ferencia de les tecnologies de !'epoca de la mecani tzaci, les noves recnologies desafien l'expressi formal directa.

Barbara Burren , ETH-Zurlch, 1987.

Lukas Zumsteg, ETH-Zurleh, 1987.

Porser ramb passa que l'expressi autentica deis processos de la societat es troba ofegada pel fet que l'energia potencial, que reclama urgemment una forma concreta, esra essenr eliminada i obligada a encaixar en models histories preestablen s. Pero, si una forma s col-lect iva, fenomen social , i la congruencia entre contingut i expressi, funci i fo rma, ens sembla essencial en arqui tectura, ja va essent hora que desenvolupem una idea de ciutat i d'arquitectura que derivi directament d'una anali-si de la realitat social desprove.lda de qualsevol ornament. L'object iu del nostre treball, donar una expressi col lectiva, s a dir, monumental , a les act ivitats de la ciutat que es fan cada cop ms efmeres i intangibles, i per tant di fcils de captar, sem bla que porti im plcita una contradicci. El que hem de fer s desvetllar el potencial dramatic ocult en el lloc com, amb la finalitat d'utilitzar-lo com a p rimera materia per a arguments i transformar-lo de forma tan directa com ens sigui possible en dissenys arquitecto nics i urbans. En aquest procs s viral una confrontaci conceptual que es t robi lliure de prejudicis i que vagi acom panyada d ' un aurentic desig d'expressi arquirecronica elemental. Moabit, al nord-est del case antic de Berln, va ser fu ndada el 1717 pels h ugonots, els quals en van prendre el nom de I'Antic Testament, pas de Moab, on els israelians es van refugiar desprs de la fugida d 'Egipte. Allo va predeterminar el desr de la zona com a lloc per a les restes deis excedents del case urba i per a rotes les activitats que n' hau rien dest rui"t l' homogene at: hospitals, barracots i terrenys d'esport, presons, esracions de ferrocarril , recintes d 'exposicions, docs, indstries, desti l le-ries, etc.; sa di r, rora la tipologa urbana que s'ha desenvolupat des de la IJ lust raci, especialmenr arran del procs d'i ndustrialirzaci. D es de llavors, Moabit ha estar una illa que abasta tot el que s violent, volumins, la deixalla, la pecul iaritat, altrament dit, un lloc per a forasters. La idea de ciutat que s'hi reflecteix, p lena de contradiccions i de figures marginals de la societat s, tanmareix, una expressi molt ms autentica del nostre tem ps que l'est ructura urbana homoge-nia, que de fe t queda deturada en el seu desenvolupament, noms conserva la unitat amb molt d 'es-fon;: i t un caracter de decorar que ja no es pot dissimular ms temps. Acabats els esfor~os de reconst rucci de I'IBA, l'arenci se centra a Moabit, un paisatge urba fasc i-nant que dna una sensaci d'espais amplis i buits, i es caracteritza per composicions a gran escala, lliurement disposades a l'espai, t i pus que representen la forma ms directa de descripci de funcions: sirges, magatzems, obres d'electri citat, gasometres, abocadors, mercars a l'engros, docs, estacions de mercaderies, etc. Per b que no es pugui realitzar una justa descripci d'aquest paisatge urba am b i:ermes tradicionals com textura, carrer o pla~a, potser noms necessitaria unes guantes operacions especfiques, ben es-coll ides, per evitar la tensi espacial latent. La nost ra tasca comporta, per tant, un doble aspecre. La tasca arqui rectonica consisteix a dese nvo lupar un tipus d 'edifici que evolucioni a partir de les funcions i deis arguments actuals i que entaul i un dialeg amb el ti pus historie tradicional de la zo na. L'alrra rasca t a veure amb el disseny urba: donar una forma concreta a una idea d' urbanitat que es basa en les qualitats dionisaques de Moabit, pero que es pot aplicar un iversalment per assolir la

A pro g r a m m e f o r M o a bit Presem-day programmes no longer seem ro ha ve rhe powcr ro generare fo rms of expression wh ich can stand the test of comparison wirh examples from rhe 19th and early 20th century. Some of the reasons for rhis can be found in the phenomenon by which rhe publ ic sector is being undermined in favour of ourright privare ownership or in the shi ft in emphasis from the manufac-turing industry ro rhe service industry. Quite unlike the technologies in rhe age of mechanisation, rhe new rechnologies defy direcr fo rmal expression. Maybe an aurhenric expression of sociery's processes is also being suffocated by rhe facr thar poten-t ia! energy, which positively urges ro be given concrete form is being suppressed and forced ro fir inro ser historical patterns. Bur, if form is a collective, social phenomenon, and if we see t he con-gruence of content and expression, function and form, as being essential in archirecrure, rhen ir is high rime rhar we developed an idea of the city and archirecture which results directly from an analysis of social realiry devoid of any t rimmings. The aim of our work, ro give a collective, i.e. monumental, expression ro activiries in t he city which are becoming increasingly ephemeral and intangible and rherefore difficult to comprehend, seems ro imply a contradiction. Whar we need ro do is to unconver rhe hidden dramatic potential in the commonplace in order ro use it as raw material for scenarios and to transtorn ir as directly as possi-ble inro architectural and urban designs. Crucial ro t his process is a conceptual confrontation which is free of prejudice and accompanied by a true desire for elementary architecrural expression. Moabit, ro the north-west of t he old city centre, was settled in 1717 by rhe Huguenors, who name the district afrer rhe O ld Testament country of Moab where the Israelites rook refuge afrer the flight from Egypt. This maps out the fate of the arca as a place to carch the dregs of the city centre overspi ll and all the activities which would have destroyed its homogeneity: hospitals, barracks and exercise grounds, prisons, railway stations, exhibition halls, docks, industry, breweries ere., i.e. rhe entire range of urban types typology which had been developing since the Enlightenment, in par-ticu lar in the wake of the indusrrialisarion process. Since t hen Moabir has been an island embracing all that is violent, bulky, outcast, curious - in short a place for outsiders. The idea of the ciry reflected here, full of contraditions and figures on the fringe of society is, however, a much more authentic expression of our time than rhe homogeneous urban srructure which is actuall y arrested in its development, is only being held together wirh grear effort and has a stage-set characrer which can no lo nger be covered up. IBA's reconstrucrion endeavours now over, attention focuses in Moabit on a fascinating urban land-scape which leaves an impression of wide, empty spaces and is characterised by large-scale composi-tions, freely placed in space, rypes representing rhe most direct form of depicrion of functions: si los, warehouses, electricity works, gasometers, refuse depots, wholesale markets, docks, goods srations etc. Although this urban space cannot be adequately described with traditional terms such as texture, street, square, it would seem to be in need of only a few especific, well-chosen operations in order ro activare the larenr spatial tension. Our task is therefore twofold. The architectural task is ro develop a type of building which evolves from present-day functions and scenarios and engages in a dialogue with the historical type t radi-tional for rhe area. The orher task has to do with urban design: ro give concrete form ro an idea of urbanity which is based on rhe Dionysian qualit ies of Moabit but can be universally applied so as ro attain a Utopa of the P resent.

Programmc ror thc Projects course. ETH. Zurich. ll>ns ~ollhoff

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Maquetas de projectes par Moablt, Berlln, realltzats al curs de Hans Kollhofl, ETHZurlch, 1987. Models of sorne projecls for Moabil. Berlin. realised in Hans Kollhoff course, ETH-Zurich, 1987.

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Hans Kollhoff, Moablt, Berlln, 1987.