A culture of appropriation : strategies of temporary reuse in East Germany

This thesis examines the possibilities of creative appropriation of existing spaces. It defines interstitial practices as both critical and imaginative forces that actively participate in the production of social space. Temporary interventions assert their topicality by inserting themselves into specific urban discourses in which they have the potential to act as cultural catalysts. Two recent festivals, Volkspalast (2004) in Berlin and Hotel Neustadt (2003) in Halle (Saxony-Anhalt), serve as case studies that exemplify different strategies of the temporary. Staged in buildings that were scheduled for demolition, both festivals address the gradual disappearance of "socialist" architecture and urbanism in the realm of the former East Germany.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Heinemann, Michaela

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mark Jarzombek.

• Architecture.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33036

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33036