Collaborative Transformation of the Rainwater Retention Basin
Urban Development Partnership: THP x SenSBW x Floating e.V.
We are delighted to announce a significant milestone reached in January: the signing of a Letter of Intent with the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing and Tempelhof Projekt GmbH. This marks a pivotal step towards a cooperative transformation of the rainwater retention basin into a hybrid infrastructure dedicated to sustainable rainwater management. After an extensive collaborative effort spanning over a year, the Letter of Intent stands as a testament to Floating e.V.’s dedication to the rainwater retention basin and fortifies our position in its long-term transformation.
This Letter of Intent acknowledges the multifaceted nature of the basin, aiming to highlight the simultaneous roles it plays: a natureculture research campus, a crucial component of a rainwater management system, a unique ecosystem, and a vital water infrastructure for the district. Preserving and nurturing this hybridity is central to our vision for the future.
Following this milestone, a stakeholder workshop involving Tempelhof Projekt GmbH, SenSBW and the district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, moderated by Urban Catalyst, will further the collaborative efforts and establish the framework for the upcoming phases of our shared journey
Core Statement
The key points of the Letter of Intent (LOI) for the collaborative transformation of the rainwater retention basin (RRB) at Tempelhof Airport between the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing, Tempelhof Projekt GmbH, and Floating e. V.
1. Starting situation
- Different requirements for the RRB as a technical infrastructure and natural culture experimental space create a place of synergies, but also of contradictions.
2. Common goals
- Enabling the coexistence of the facility as a technical infrastructure and the use of the RRB by Floating e. V.
- Joint objective: to promote the multi-coding of the space as well as the ecological, climatic, cultural, and social significance of the place without compromising the functionality of the technical infrastructure.
- Process for long-term transformation: creating a community-oriented urban infrastructure for sustainable rainwater management.
3. Shared narrative
- The basin as a hybrid infrastructure that combines technical functions with socio-cultural use and the natural ecosystem.
4. Key points for collaboration
- Multifunctional use of the site continuation of Floating e. V.’s activities until the beginning of transformation.
- Ensuring the technical functions of the basin.
- Reviewing the transfer of certain responsibilities for the technical infrastructure to Floating e. V.
- Mutual knowledge transfer and transparent communication among the parties.
5. Cooperative planning for the transformation
- Common aim is a participatory planning process to develop various usage scenarios for the future structural transformation of the basin involving the signing parties and the neighborhood.
Letter of Intent (2024)
THP x SenSBW x Floating e.V.
