Research
Placemaking for the Common Good
Lessons from the Modellprojekt Haus der Statistik, Berlin
ABSTRACT
This article examines an alternative model of creative placemaking by analysing the Modellprojekt Haus der Statistik (HdS) in Berlin. Unlike conventional placemaking initiatives often driven by market logics and criticised for accelerating gentrification, the HdS project emerged from an artistic and activist intervention that evolved into a city-backed, cooperative redevelopment model grounded in the principle of the Gemeinwohl (common good). Through a Public-Civic Partnership (PCP), artists, civil society actors, and public authorities collaborate in shaping an inclusive urban space that resists extractive development models. Drawing on qualitative research, including interviews and document analysis, the article explores how the HdS challenges dominant urban policy paradigms by prefiguring democratic, equitable, and culturally diverse city-making. The article contributes to the discourse on placemaking by highlighting the potential of artistic activism and community-based collaboration in resisting gentrification and reimagining the role of art and culture in urban development.
In collaboration with Sabastian Olma