Berlin-Treptow-Köpenick „MellowparkCampus“
With the “MellowparkCampus” concept, a youth sports park was moved to a derelict site. This was a further step in changing a temporary use into a legally protected project.
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Context
Source: Janine Graubaum
“Mellowpark” was initiated by young persons, who, from 2001, took a 1.5 hectare large brownfield site in Berlin-Köpenick and turned it into a youth sports park. In the initial phase, the adolescents tested the area in playing there. In the course of time, they altered the area and provided it with various leisure time and sports facilities. Very quickly, the site became a centre for youth culture and sports and popular far beyond the borders of Berlin.
However, as flats were planned to be built on the site, the “Mellowpark” stakeholders from 2008 had to look for another area. As a consequence, the borough government of Köpenick offered the approx. 6 hectare large abandoned sports area “An der Wulheide” to the “all eins e. V.” sponsoring organisation to be used for the youth sports park. The area is situated close to the old site and was meanwhile used as car park. With its vast green areas and dilapidated buildings, the site was in an unattended state.
Against this background, the planning task had to take the concrete needs of young persons into account. The main challenge was to move successful structures (networks, sports facilities and sponsors) from the old to tne new site and to involve adolescents in the development of the new site.
Project description
Source: All Eins e.V.
The “MellowparkCampus” project was initiated by the “all eins e. V.” sponsoring organisation in 2009 and used as an instrument to turn a derelict site into a youth sports park. The major goal was to move existing sports facilities from the former “Mellowpark” to the new site, to create a concept for acquiring areas while developing ideas for newly planning/altering the 6 hectare large area. This process should involve flexible and dynamic forms of participation and as many members and users of “Mellowpark” as possible.
Due to the fact that the new property was four times larger than the old site, there was much scope for new ideas and visions to be developed by intensive cooperation with young people and “all eins e. V.”. The “MellowparkCampus” concept implied that the site was tested for two weeks. During that period, a basic infrastructure and temporary BMX and skating facilities were created. Another purpose of the concept was to combine thinking and acting, theory and practice.
The “MellowparkCampus“ project achieved several objectives: Young people identify with the new site and a change of generations among the committed young persons became possible. Furthermore, support for the “Mellowpark” could be gained from parents, backers and residents of the new site. Critical neighbours were visited and informed about background and goals of the project in order to prevent possible neighbourhood disputes. The number of sympathizers and supporters of the new site could be increased in this way. During a two-day future workshop, adult users and stakeholders of the “Mellowpark” dealt with the park’s future development options in terms of content, architectural and spatial aspects and organisation.
The result of the participatory process was a dynamic master plan providing for areas for skating facilities, dirt bike trails and other sports. The master plan concept implied to involve relevant parties and to present various development options. It provided the basis for the formulation of a regulatory planning framework. The existing building on the site should be gradually altered into a youth club including recording studio and screen printing workshop. Apart from various architectural measures, the “Mellowpark” should become a training centre for various professions. In order to make the site known among young people in Berlin, a holiday camp had already been established in 2009. New sports could be tested and young persons stay overnight in tents.
Formal were confronted with informal development approaches when the various facilities moved to the new site. While the “Mellowpark” stakeholders opted for immediately activating and gradually occupying the site, the borough government urged for settling the regulatory planning framework in order to establish and secure the park on its new site. Process-oriented planning now became a priority taking the regulatory architectural and planning framework as well as dynamics and flexibility of the “Mellowpark” and its young users into account.
In involving the adolescents, the participatory project provided the conceptual basis for the long-term development on the new site. It enabled to explore and test the future sports facilities. Gradual acquisition of the large area enabled to react adequately to unexpected events and to realise dynamic and flexible planning measures.
Project chronology
Year | Event |
---|---|
1999 | “Mellowpark” concept developed |
1999 | Awarded at regional competition “Jugend entwickelt das neue Berlin“ (Young people developing the new Berlin) |
2001 | First “Mellowpark” site developed by young persons on a voluntary basis |
2001 | Rental agreement concluded between “all eins e. V.” and property owner |
2008 | German BMX freestyle championship at “Mellowpark” |
2008 | Tenancy given notice to quit |
2009 | Negotiations with Berlin-Köpenick borough government about alternative site “An der Wulheide” |
2009 | Selected as demonstration project within the field of research “Adolescents in Urban Neighbourhoods” funded under the “Experimental Housing and Urban Development” programme |
2010 | “Mellowpark” moving to the new site |
Aims
Source: All Eins e.V.
- to alter a derelict site into a youth sports park by young people for young peopleto preserve existing structures and networks
- to legally protect the use of the site
- to involve as many young persons in planning and implementation as possible
- to realise equal working structures without hierarchies
- to establish holiday camps
- to increase the popularity of the youth park
Types of measures
Source: Janine Graubaum
- activating and flexible forms of participation
- future workshops
- master plan
- adressing and involving neighbours
- gradually proceeding in order to be able to react flexibly
- founding a sports club
- voluntary work by young people
- converting existing buildings into a youth club and a youth training centre
- alteration measures on own initiative
- re-using demolition material
- various expert’s reports to obtain a building permission
Innovations
Source: David Ulrich
The project’s innovation is that young people planned and gradually implemented the acquisition and use of the site on their own iniative. “MellowparkCampus” thus is an example for successful urban development carried out by the youth. Conversion of the site “An der Wulheide” shows that derelict sites offer various opportunities for acquiring space to young people. Derelict sites also bear a large potential to the youth to develop to the full.
The project represents a bottom-up process developing further based on the large share of voluntary work and do-it-yourself construction. In this way, the approach accomodates the world of the youth to a particular extent: As they are in a phase of orientation characterised by speed, unsecurity and eagerness to experiment, they permanently change their areas of action. By young persons explicitly participating in shaping their environment and practising youth culture like in the “MellowparkCampus” project, conflicts in public spaces may be overcome and new opportunities be provided.
The project delivers important findings with regard to process-oriented and planning law-related requirements emerging from (for the time being) temporary uses. These requirements were met by flexible and dynamic planning.
Sources
Further information
- BMVBS special publication „Jugend macht Stadt“ (Youth shaping cities) (2010), p. 72-74,
- Werkstatt:Praxis, Issue 57 „The impact of temporary use of land and buildings on sustainable urban development“ (2008), p. 14-15, >> more information (Abstract in English, long version in German)
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 12555 - town: Berlin - street: An der Wuhlheide 256.
Poject site on Google-Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/xiHC68Z41Ex
Last update: 07.02.2018