Herman Hertzberger, more than almost any other European architect, engaged with the urban planning and architectural issues of Berlin from the early 1980s until the turn of the millennium. Yet most of this decades-long engagement remained unbuilt: only two of the sixteen planned projects were realized, while others were abandoned as a result of the historic event of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Inken Baller, who at the time served as the local architect for Hertzberger's Berlin projects, together with architectural historian Brigitte Jacob, documents for the first time all of the Dutch architect's buildings and projects developed for Berlin. In conversation, Hertzberger reflects on his work for the capital, which still offers responses to contemporary issues such as social isolation and adaptability. His collages address essential questions of spatial formation and, as tools for thinking within his body of work, represent a novelty in his oeuvre.

• Unique insight into the little-known Berlin work of Herman Hertzberger, a legend of Dutch structuralism
• A personal perspective on fundamental principles of architecture and urban planning
• Previously unpublished archival material

Autorentext

Prof. Inken Baller, Architektin in Berlin, arbeitete von 1969 bis 1989 im gemeinsamen Büro mit Hinrich Baller, ab 1989 mit eigenem Büro, und war Kontaktarchitektin für Herman Hertzbergers Berliner Projekte. Ab 1989 war Inken Baller Professorin an der Gesamthochschule Kassel, ab 1996 an der BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. Ihre Arbeitsschwerpunkte sind Wohnungsbau, Baukonstruktionen sowie Bauen im Bestand.

Dr. Brigitte Jacob, Architektin und Bauhistorikerin, war von 1999 bis 2014 Dozentin für Baugeschichte und Architekturtheorie an der BHT Berlin und bis 2024 Dozentin für Bautechnik an der Staatlichen Technikerschule Berlin. Ihr Forschungsschwerpunkt ist die Architektur- und Stadtgeschichte des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts.