White settlement Dammweg, Berlin-Neukölln New construction of Generation Square and redevelopment of Aronstraße/Sonnenallee urban space

Creation of a multifunctional plaza in a large housing estate from the 1970s. Offers for all age groups: among others, climbing playground, table tennis, game tables and a picnic deck. The design was preceded by planning workshops with residents and a local youth club.

Entrance square and new passage from Sonnenallee to Aronsstraße: upgrading the entrance situation and increasing the quality of stay, reducing anxiety areas by thinning out the existing planting and better lighting, creating a visible connection to the generation square.

Location, situation, initial situation
The white settlement Dammweg in Berlin-Neukölln is a residential area of social housing of the 1970s. Typical for the area are the partly 18-storey building strips, which strongly distinguish themselves from the neighbouring development. The characteristic light-coloured houses, which are now owned by "Brandenburg Properties 5 S.a.r.l", gave the area of around 15 hectares the name White Estate or Sun Estate. The area is bordered by Dieselstraße in the north, Aronsstraße in the west, Dammweg in the east and Sonnenallee in the south. Due to the adjacent allotment garden settlements and the park-like green spaces in the settlement, there is a sufficient supply of green and open spaces. Around 4000 residents live in the neighbourhood, around 70% have a migration background. Among them are many young families with several children. A good quarter of the inhabitants are under 18 years of age. Since 2005, the settlement has received federal funding from the Soziale Stadt urban development programme and is supported by a neighbourhood management team.
Various and spacious green and open spaces as well as many playgrounds and football pitches characterise the residential environment of the White Settlement. However, these were in a predominantly poor condition and urgently needed to be renovated and qualified. Furthermore, there was a lack of offers for young people and meeting places for adults and seniors.
The bwgt office was commissioned with the planning of the playgrounds in the northern quarter. The planning of the squares of the southern quarter (quarter square, entrance square and square at the Aronsspitze) was taken over by our office.

The public entrance square at the Sonnenallee (owner district Neukölln) forms the southern entrée into the White Settlement. Here are a bus stop, a furniture store, the rental office, the neighborhood meeting place and the youth club Sunshine Inn. It is thus a transit space and social contact point for the residents. The private Generations Square (owned by Brandenburg Properties) represents an important link in the southern quarter. Many residents cross it on their way to Sonnenallee. Before the redesign, it was completely shaded and only connected to the passageway to Aronsstraße by a narrow, heavily overgrown passageway. There was no direct connection to the entrance square. The square at Aronsspitze (owned by Brandenburg Properties), which is about 200 meters to the north and also private, forms the transition to the northern quarter. It, too, is only a transit space for many residents, but also a popular place to linger, especially for older residents.


Concept, guiding idea
Wishes and goals for the open spaces and squares were formulated during workshops with residents, the Sunshine Inn youth facility, and the police prevention unit. As a result of these workshops conducted by the neighbourhood management, the neighbourhood square was to be designed as a multifunctional generation square for small festivals, flea markets and events and better connected to the entrance square, which was also to be upgraded. The playground at Aronsspitze, which is no longer needed, should be redesigned into a small square for seniors.
Both plazas were under a dense tree canopy and were heavily shaded. The path surfaces, seating and playground equipment were dilapidated or destroyed, making the squares unattractive for any use. Therefore, one of the most important goals of our planning was initially to create sunny areas for sitting and playing by thinning out the existing trees and shrubs, to create more attractive path relationships and to increase the sense of safety for users and passers-by.
Other goals and desires were: Meeting places for different (age) groups with benches and tables, play facilities for younger children and better lighting.
The square at Aronsspitze was particularly popular with older residents who liked to take a break here and watch the street activity. Here too, the overgrown trees and shrubs were heavily thinned out to make what was perceived as a fearful space a friendlier place. New benches and tables create a previously non-existent quality of stay.

Functional areas, development, accessibility
The upgraded southern entrance square now flows generously and openly into the new generation square and forms a design unit with it in terms of its materiality, furniture and lighting. The pavements are made of simple ashlars, monochrome grey in the area of the entrance square, grey-anthracite banded on the generation square. The benches are made of robust concrete and are arranged along the sides of the square. Raspberry-red wooden seats with and without backrests, wastebaskets and playground equipment add colourful accents. On the north side of the Generations Square is a playground with different colored wooden playground equipment for younger children and a wooden deck for picnics. A power connection integrated into the wooden deck is available for various events.
In order to emphasize the design coherence of the squares, the same equipment elements and the same pavement banding were used for the square at Aronsspitze. All areas are barrier-free.

Ecology, Vegetation
The existing vegetation dates from the 1970s and consists mainly of sycamore and sugar maple trees, many of which are too close to the buildings and shade squares and houses heavily in some cases. In addition, there are large areas of firethorn and mahonia plantings. The firethorn plantations, which grew up to 3.5 metres and were cut with hedge shears, formed and continue to form green walls along paths, which led to a strong feeling of insecurity, especially along narrow thoroughfares. Thus, it was first important to thin out the tree population and to clear shrubbery. As replacement trees, e.g. red hawthorn, hackberry, field maple and birch trees were planted. The shady, tree-covered edge areas of the Generationenplatz and the square on Aronsstraße were underplanted with hedge myrtle (Lonicera nitida 'Maigrün'). In sunnier areas, ground-covering roses (Rosa ìnnocencia`) and grasses (Miscanthus sinensis 'Kleine Fontäne') as well as Thunberg barberry (Berberis thunbergii) were used.