SPREEATHEN
Dominikus Littel, Niklas Grupe, Yanan Chen, Philipa Weyers
WS 2016/17
SpreeRoute
activating islands in the river network
Engaging simultaneously with discourses on car-free neighbourhoods and with current plans for bike superhighways in Berlin, this project explored the potential of the river Spree to open up new destinations in Berlin exclusively to cyclists and pedestrians.
Immediately to the north of Schloss Charlottenburg, a stretch of a Spree channel made inaccessible by the S-Bahn line is reactivated by the additional of such a bike superhighway, that continues northwards to join the former Siemensbahn and merges with standard cycling paths to the south. Thus a new city circulation route is provided that connects the Schloss Charlottenburg with geographically adjacent but perceptually dispersed locations including Siemensstadt, Westhafen and Fughafen Tegel.
The route is also intended as a spur of the ‘eurovelo’ route between Italy and Denmark. A service station type destination is proposed for an island in the Spree channel at Schloss Charlottenburg, that is made accessible by the bike route as it bridges access the channel. This programme of overnight accommodation and bike repair facilities is supplemented by urban gardening and recreation activities for the local population.
