ABSTRACT

The second scene deals with the temporary appropriation practices in the abandoned buildings in Halle-Neustadt. In the summer of 2003, one of the five skyscrapers of the Neustädter Passage, a symbol of the most significant modern city in the GDR, was transformed into a hotel and home to an international theatre festival. By mobilising the themes of participation, temporary uses, collective living and cultural and artistic appropriations, the experience became a small window of opportunity to experiment with spatial and social proposals. In this third scene, a misalignment between intentions and reality is observed. Although intended primarily for the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, Hotel Neustadt was perceived by the latter as an isolated utopia initiated by an enclave for privileged subjects that, after having had the luxury of playing a precarious lifestyle, were gone. Practices of temporary appropriation, such as that of the Hotel Neustadt, are experiences that have exploded throughout Germany. Nonetheless, for investors and local government, they were generally understood only as Hundeminen, the anti-tank dogs used by the army to cross the minefield, used to revitalise a part of the city and arouse interest. Once the set goal has been reached, they are removed. Yet, on the one hand, the Halle experience allows us to understand its limits. On the other hand, the set of appropriation practices guided by tactical and structural strategies will enable us to reveal the great potential that an abandoned space can have.