Contested Ground: Ecotone Urbanism
New School of Architecture & Design, San Diego (NSAD)
Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urban Planning, Bucharest (UAUIM)
Bochum University of Applied Sciences, School of Architecture (HSBO)
06. – 17.07.2026
Bringing together students from Germany, Romania and the United States, this two-week international summer school explores one of Berlin’s most contested urban questions: Can Tempelhofer Feld evolve without losing the qualities that make it unique?
Task
Participants investigate the transitional zone between Tempelhofer Feld and the surrounding city. Rather than focusing on the protected open landscape itself, the studio examines the Outer Meadow Ring the interface where urban fabric and landscape meet.
Drawing on the ecological concept of the “ecotone” – a transition zone in which different systems overlap and generate new forms of diversity – the workshop considers the urban edge as a place of exchange, negotiation and opportunity. Students explore how new forms of housing, public space and community infrastructure might strengthen the relationship between the field and its neighbouring districts while preserving its ecological, cultural and spatial qualities.
Beginning with a collective analysis of the entire perimeter of Tempelhofer Feld, participants develop strategic concepts before identifying a specific site for an architectural or urban intervention. The resulting proposals address questions of urban resilience, affordable housing, public space and landscape, imagining new ways of connecting one of Europe’s largest inner-city open spaces with the city around it.
Task
- Tempelhofer Feld as contested urban landscape
- The urban edge as an ecotone
- Housing, public space and urban resilience
- Landscape and city as interconnected systems
- Site-specific architectural and urban interventions
- International collaboration and comparative perspectives
Studio Coordinators
- Prof. Daniela Deutsch (NSAD)
- Prof. Bruce Matthes (NSAD)
- Prof. Yahia Dardari (UAUIM)
- Prof. Alexandru Calin (UAUIM)
- Prof. Erhard An-He Kinzelbach (HSBO)
