Backlands _ post-industrial urban wildlands in Berlin

During Berlin’s partition years, the Gleisdreick site was extensively studied by early pioneers in the field of urban ecology such as Herbert Sukopp.  The abandonment and bureaucratic freeze imposed on these sites following the war created a unique set of conditions allowing for the observation and study of uninterrupted successional processes in the urban context.  The abandonment and benign neglect of the Gleisdreick can be partially attributed to the site’s proximity to the “no-man’s land” strip around the Berlin Wall.  

A 1980 study found that 60% of the original 150 acres (60 ha) on the site remained open as emergent woodlands and grasslands.  One-third of all the plant species found in the Berlin area were found to be present on the site, including: 106 trees; 307 grasses, herbs, mosses, and ferns; 17 endangered ferns and flowering plants, and 20 other rare plants.  As is the case at the Sudgelande site and other urban woodlands around the globe, the species community includes many non-native species that have found their way to the site from street planters, gardens, and other vacant lands.(Spirn)

1980 TU Berlin Proposal

In 1980, the Technical University of Berlin released a proposal to turn the Gleisdreieck site into a public park composed of 50% wild woodlands and 50% garden plots.  The criteria used to determine the level of protection and use regimes put forward in the proposal included: biotope protection, replaceabilty, development potential, uniqueness, naturalness, rareness/endangerment, and resilience/hardiness.  The proposal called for very limited interventions on the site including a recommendation that only materials found on the site be used in the construction of any new buildings or infrastructure. (Seiberth)

2006 Atelier Loidl Proposal

In 2006 a proposal for the redevelopment of the site by Atelier Loidl was selected in a competition.   The proposal, slated to begin construction in 2008 and open to the public n 2010, will dramatically increase access and public use of the site.  The firm’s extensive plans include “kids playgrounds, bocce courts, areas to sunbathe, space for cafes, public toilettes, 20 entrances, more grassy valley space than the entire Tiergarten, and a 500-square-meter community garden.”  Though the proposal calls for much more intensive development than either the 1980 proposal or the realized project at the Sudgelande, it does includes provisions for the preservation of “pre-war remnants” on the site.  The bomb ravaged remains of the train station, elevated train bridges, and the train storage area will all be preserved.

Landscape architect Dieter Kienast commented on Gleisdreieck that, “the cultural structures of the tracks and rail yard are still clearly recognizable within the spontaneous vegetation despite forty years of mostly undisturbed neglect.  Soil formation, microclimate, water and light availability, and intensity of use have lead to the development of diverse and differentiated plant communities.”  It remains to be seen how this dynamic interplay between cultural and ecological processes take shape in the realized design for the site.  While it appears that the proposal seeks to balance public use and preservation of cultural and ecological relics, it is less clear that the proposal was created with consideration for the ecological and cultural processes that have created the current conditions on the site.

(Source: http://www.gleisdreieck-dialog.de/discoursemachine.php?view=viewcompiler&id_view=4, Accessed 1/10/08)

"Big Plans for Gleisdreieck." The Berlin Paper. http://meinberlin.com/etc/home/33452.html

Zum Park Gleisdreieck. http://www.gleisdreieck-dialog.de/