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Gesundbrunnen S-Bahn station, Hohenzollerndamm S-Bahn station, Sonnenallee S-Bahn station

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What If Berlin
The Projects

The Projects

Overview

Ideas for 27 unrealised projects from the archives of the Berliner Festspiele, other Berlin cultural institutions and individual architects and artists form the underlying material for What If Berlin. These unrealised artistic designs for the future are each allocated to one station on the Berlin Ringbahn, where they will be transposed into the present by Akira Takayama. Whether you want to look at them before or after visiting the event, you can find an overview of all 27 project proposals here.

Black-and-white graphic of a building complex with columns, central structure, and open area in front.

1 Gesundbrunnen

Film House Esplanade

What if Berlin projected the dreams of its citizens into the sky?

Tour B | Tour E

Hand-drawn architectural design with building plans and details of structures, featuring a courtyard with a tent-like roof.

2 Schönhauser Allee

House of Young Talents

What if Berlin hosted a European Youth Centre underneath the roof of U2?

Tour A

Cross section of a building design with a dome and several floors for exhibition and collection. Floors labeled.

3 Prenzlauer Allee

Gasometer / GDR Technological Museum

What if Berlin were to digitally bring the history of its eastern part back to life in Ernst-Thälmann-Park?

Tour B

Art painting with man pondering, snake, globe, seated person, and historically-inspired crowd.

4 Greifswalder Straße

When Communists Dream …

What if Berlin decided collectively about the future of the image gallery of Palast der Republik?

Tour A

Text: Berlin 2000, Candidate for the Olympic Games 2000. Three interlocked rings in black, red, gold.

5 Landsberger Allee

Olympics 2000

What if water shaped the vision and design of Berlin’s next Olympics?

Tour B

Architectural sketch of an urban area with geometric shapes and buildings in top view.

6 Storkower Straße

Flight of Icarus

What if Berlin created a monument for a future surveillance state?

Tour A

Person in white top in front of urban street scene with yellow bus and buildings in the background.

7 Frankfurter Allee

Women in Berlin

What if Berlinale created a section for unrealised films?

Tour A

Black-and-white poster with the words Berlin Plant, Erster Bericht in large print. Additional text diagonally.

8 Ostkreuz

Berlin Plans. First Report

What if Berlin were to launch another planning competition for the whole city?

Tour B

Black-red branched diagram with text and arrows on white background.

9 Treptower Park

Central Site of Learning and Remembrance

What if Berlin would actually build the central learning centre about the history of German colonialism?

Tour B

Mural depicting groups of people in various scenes, including work, celebration, and education.

10 Sonnenallee

Building the Republic

What if Berlin never finished building the republic?

Tour A | Tour D

Two aerial views of residential areas: top with central open space and buildings, bottom with more green spaces and structured rows of buildings.

11 Neukölln

Dammweg School

What if Berlin became an educational city?

Tour C

On orange background, text „ICH BIN BERLINER Michail Gorbatschow 15.10.1996“.

12 Hermannstraße

I Am Berliner

What if Berlin created a system of urban citizenship for which you can register at Ringbahn kiosks?

Tour D

Black-and-white city map with streets, buildings, and areas shown in geometric forms.

13 Tempelhof

Citizens’ Forum

What if Berlin renamed Tempelhof station?

Tour C

Person with curly hair, pearl necklace, fan, and off-shoulder dress looking towards the camera.

14 Südkreuz

Lili Elbe Archive

What if Berlin rebuilt a lost archive?

Tour C

Typewritten text on paper, with a letterhead address at the top and a stamp in the upper right corner.

15 Schöneberg

Radio Glasnost

What if Berlin opened a ham radio station for silenced voices?

Tour D

Ladder in front of Berlin Wall, text "FROM USSR MIT LOVE", ad "Schultheiss Berlin steht mit ihm an".

16 Innsbrucker Platz

The Wall

What if Berlin perforated more and more walls?

Tour C

Typed letter from Berliner Festspiele GmbH to DDR Ministry of Culture with handwritten markings.

17 Bundesplatz

Secret Cooperation in the Cultural Sector

What if Berlin were to set up a secret cultural network?

Tour D

Hand-drawn map of Berlin with architectural details and surrounding landscape.

18 Heidelberger Platz

A History of Berlin

What if Berlin used the Ringbahn for staging its human-and non-human history?

Tour C

Protocol with table of contents for monument design competition in Berlin.

19 Hohenzollerndamm

Monument to Freedom and Unity

What if Berlin reopened all 532 ideas for the Monument for Freedom and Unity?

Tour C | Tour F

Newspaper article headline on a building project on Teufelsberg, images of David Lynch and architectural concept.

20 Halensee

Meditation University

What if Berlin created a spiral meditation path on Teufelsberg?

Tour E

Cross-section of a building with symmetrical architecture and multiple floors.

21 Westkreuz

Linear City Grunewald

What if Berlin were to build over the AVUS with organic architecture?

Tour E

Cars drive on a cobblestone highway under a sign reading “Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe”.

22 Messe Nord / ICC

Overwritten. A Memorial for Europe’s Murdered Jews

What if Berlin turned its city highway into a place of memory culture?

Tour E

Brown rabbit on sandy ground in front of a large metal cross structure.

23 Westend

A Walk in Paradise

What if Berlin started a Ringbahn walking tour?

Tour F

Illustration of a river landscape with promenade, trees, and modern city buildings.

24 Jungfernheide

Werkbund City

What if Siemensbahn was used as a central infrastructure for a new district?

Tour F

Typewritten text on a yellow sheet of paper, stamped "1646/43" at the top left.

25 Beusselstraße

Theaterchen

What if Ringbahn became 27 theatres?

Tour F

Handwritten page with red seal, text, and sketches

26 Westhafen

Eurasia

What if Berlin were to establish a shipping route to the Black Sea?

Tour F

A train car with political and propaganda banners, texts in Cyrillic script, snow on the ground.

27 Wedding

Agit Trains

What if Berlin used its S-Bahn as a school for hip-hop?

Tour E