ABSTRACT
Berlin has had a reputation for radical co-housing projects, and this large cooperative project is one of the most interesting. Spreefeld is a residential and mixed-use cooperative development, consisting of community spaces, mixed residential units, and office and workshop spaces as well as a daycare and extensive gardens. The project is as much about social architecture and orchestration as it is about the fabric of the buildings. Three architecture firms collaborated with the clients, the cooperative and residents on the project. There was a shared agenda that the project would be socially sustainable and ecologically driven. Berlin, like London, is on its way to being a city where investment and buying property, from overseas investors especially, is driving the city’s development. The political system only allows for the building of apartments purely for investment. Berlin is also now a city "with no vacancies".
