LiMa - Triennial of Modernism

+ 29.11.2025 ETOM2025pilot-Conference Internationale Konferenz in English with contributors from the initiative for a „European Triennial of Modernism (ETOM)“ triennale-der-moderne.de/2025/etom2025pilot-conference/ ______________________________________ The trans-European exploration of Modernism as a „progressive heritage“ opens up a large cosmos of joint findings and insights – concerning the current backlash against democratic and emancipatory values across Europe, and, at the […]

LiMa - Architektur

The anthropomorphic architecture of the Acropolis Man is the measure of all things – Perikles

LiMa - Triennale der Moderne 2025

TRIENNALE DER MODERNE 2025 https://archplus.net/de/archplus-salon-lima-wohnhof-berlin/ LiMa-Wohnhof Thu, Nov. 6, 2025, 7:00 p.m.: Work-in-Progress Preview: Film LiMa-Wohnhof (architect: Herman Hertzberger), directed by Magda Gvelesiani / Sarah Silbernagel; Location: ARCH+, Friedrichstraße 23a, 10969 Berlin; Duration: 40 min., max. 80 people, Registration: features@archplus.net Sun, Nov. 16, 2025, 3:00 p.m. | Mon, Nov. 24, 2025, 6:00 p.m.: Work-in-Progress Preview: […]

LiMa - 'Shaping Freedom' Herman Hertzberger

https://nieuweinshttps://nieuweinstituut.nl/en/events/boeklancering-herman-hertzbergerstituut.nl/en/events/ boeklancering-herman-hertzbergersBook Launch: Herman Hertzberger’s Shaping Freedom To celebrate the publication of his latest book, Shaping Freedom, 93-year-old architect Herman Hertzberger will discuss the future of architecture and the architect’s role with young, recently qualified architects. Hertzberger advocates a social form of architecture in which the user is central. The impressive appearance of a building […]

LiMa - the american architect Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 Wisconsin-1959 Arizona) – “destroy the box” – “Design for Democracy Wright always aspired to provide his client with environments that were not only functional but also “eloquent and humane.” Perhaps uniquely among the great architects, Wright pursued an architecture for everyman rather than every man for one architecture through the careful […]

LiMa - in the night

LiMa - open monument day September 13, 2025

The LiMa Wohnhof Berlin – designed by Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger “Herman Hertzberger (born 1932) taught architecture at the University of Geneva from 1982 to 1993, became an honorary member of the Association of German Architects in 1983, and was dean of the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam from 1990 to 1995. These transnational activities and […]

LiMa - harvest in LiMa - interview "Kreuzberger Horn" Nr.43 about city biotop LiMa

figues and dwarf aple “red sentinell” from the LiMa roof garden Stadtbiotop – LiMa – Interview Kreuzberger Horn Nr. 43

LiMa - the german architect Nikolaus Kuhnert

On August 20, 2025, Nikolaus Kuhnert, co-editor of ARCH+, passed away at the age of 86. https://archplus.net/de/nachruf-auf-nikolaus-kuhnert/

LiMa - documentary LiMa Wohnhof

About the history and challenges of the LiMa Wohnhof project today: as part of the Triennale der Moderne program, a documentary film about the LiMa Wohnhof will be shown: Sun, Nov. 6, 2025, 7:00 p.m.: Work in progress preview: Film “LiMa Wohnhof” (architect Herman Hertzberger) Film directors: Magda Gvelesiani / Sarah Silbernagel / Location: Arch+ […]

LiMa- the german architect Hinrich Baller

On July 23, Berlin architect Hinrich Baller (1936 Stargard, West Pomerania – 2025 Berlin) passed away. Hinrich and Inken Baller were the contact architects for the LiMa residential courtyard in Berlin. The Ballers gave LiMa the color that became  the residential courtyard skin tone: Where does LiMa’s green color actually come from? “The green comes […]

LiMa - the Southern Friedrichstadt in the 21th Century

In the 21st century, Südliche Friedrichstadt has lost nothing of what can be described as its secret and what only its inhabitants know, namely this enduring and equanimous reign in the Sphere in this glacial valley.  With Herman Hertzberger, it has now been crowned with the Italian roof garden of the Renaissance, which produces figs […]

LiMa - Education

Traditional education operates hierarchically in the social constellation and dominantly in space. In individual and egalitarian concepts such as the LiMa Wohnhof, for example, hierarchies are dissolved and space becomes a test case for the individual in the community. Here you can see what makes you tick and who you are. In the egalitarian principle, […]

LiMa- The Düttmann Garden is back

The Markgrafenstrasse 11-14 was demolished in 2022 as a result of a speculative transaction by Norsk AG. The company went bankrupt in January 2025. Hanse Merkur Versicherung has now acquired the land on Markgrafenstrasse and will build there. There will be no side bar as envisaged in the plans of the Fischer architects. The construction […]

LiMa - houseEurope won the Obel Award 2025

Big news from Copenhagen:  “HouseEurope! receives the OBEL Award 2025, which recognizes architectural contributions with the potential to drive meaningful change. The OBEL Award recognises and rewards architecture’s potential to act as tangible agents of change.   Why is this huge? Because this isn’t just about buildings — it’s about collective action, systemic change, and […]

LiMa - a social project of the future - the mosaic

A mosaic workshop with Akelei Hertzberger took place on June 16, 2025. As in 1986, Akelei showed the LiMa residents how to make a mosaic. LiMa is not a social project of the past but one of the future LiMa 1986

LiMa - dedicated to the children of Gaza

LiMa - climate change

lemons and a poppy field at the Checkpoint Charlie Climate Initiative

LiMa Architecture

Evening in the valley in the heart of Berlin – Checkpoint Charlie

LiMa - Climate change

Microbiotopes are created in the center of a cosmopolitan city.vThe LiMa garden to the southwest has become a poppy meadow where the bumblebees and bees are swarming. This herbaceous garden contains several species of mint, sage, tarragon, rosemary and lemon balm. We have used plants and seeds that we have grown ourselves. We work with […]

LiMa - architecture - dutch traditions -

Jan Vermeer van Delft – a dutch painter (1632-1675) Herman Hertzberger van Amsterdam –  a dutch architect

LiMa - climate change - we can do something!

RESISTING DOMINATION AND EXERCISING SELF CONTROL IN THE TIME OF CLIMATE CHANGE –  The Charles Darwin Program, developed by us on the terraces, in the glasshouses, gardens and in the kitchen, aims to implement the sustainability goals on a local and private level in everyday life.

LiMa - No to demolition - Power to Renovation- film by HouseEurope!

“This film explores the potential of the renovation market to drive a social-ecological transformation, and how we can change our value system through activism. It explores how direct democracy, through tools like the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), empowers citizens to demand meaningful policy changes that favor preservation, adaptation, renovation and transformation, rather than demolition. HouseEurope! […]

LiMa architecture - the chinese Hutong

Hutong Hofgarten Hutongs are traditional Asian residential areas. The word “hutong” is of Mongolian origin(hottog) and means “spring”. People built along a water source. The hutong consisted of narrow streets and dwellings with a shared courtyard that could be entered through a gate. Several families could live in such a hutong. The old people sat […]

Climate Change - We can do something!

We are pleased to announce that today, February 23, 2025, on the day of the federal elections in Germany, our website – climate change – we – can – do -something! – a little philosophy and instruction manual for a sustainable life in everyday domestic use has gone online. https://climate-change-we-can-do-something.org/ We are delighted with the […]

LiMa - Spekulation am Checkpoint Charlie - Berlin

On June 21, 2022, an unannounced demolition of an intact office building at Markgrafenstrass 11-14, including a historically significant industrial building fragment from the 19th century that had survived the bombing during the Second World War, began. Norsk AG Deutschland had acquired the property during the pandemic and demolished everything without further ado. A design […]

LiMa - HOUSE EUROPE - NO TO DEMOLITION

NO TO DEMOLITION !!! DONT FORGET TO SIGN!!! https://www.houseeurope.eu/ Demolition of the intact office building at Markgrafenstrasse 11-14 in Berlin-Kreuzberg Checkpoint Charlie by Norsk AG in 2022.

LiMa - 2025 - Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2025 – democracy will be strong with us! we are here!

LiMA - city in the 21th century -

The New York Times reported today on traffic policies in the year 2025 for Manhatten: Most drivers will begin paying new congestion tolls on Jan. 5 to reach the heart of Manhattan, if all goes as planned.The fees are meant to relieve some of the world’s worst gridlock and pollution while raising billions of dollars […]

LiMa - Spatial accessibility and intimacy - Herman Hertzberger

The staggered sequence of information through architectural means creates a gradual entry and exit. … Through the choice of suitable architectural means, the private area can thus appear less fortress-like and become more accessible, while the public area, which is more concerned with the transfer of responsibility to the individual and the personal care of […]

LiMa - climate change - we can do something !

Klimalabor LiMa Wohnhof Berlin Citrus harvest December 2024 – Buddha’s hand – Yuzu – Satsumas – Kaffir lime Agrumi di LiMa – Yuzu – Climate Initiative

LiMa - learning from history - Participation -

participation, involvement, the inclusion of (several or all) different parties in a matter in the narrower sense, participation, influence in decision-making and decision-making processes. WE NEED A WIND OF CHANGE IN THIS WORLD!

LiMa - the grid system - Herman Hertzberger

In the rapidly growing American cities, the grid principle can be found in its most elementary form and with its characteristic results. It is hard to imagine a better way to incorporate the overwhelming collection of architectural forms – from low-rise to skyscraper – that can hardly be contained in this city of unstoppable free […]

LiMa - The structure as backbone - warp and weft - Herman Hertzberger

Mass housing, which superficially corresponds to our industrial conditions, owes its dominance to the monocultural behavior that characterizes our society. The least an architect can do in such a situation is to outline images that show ways to shake people out of their lethargy. (…) Even the smallest step in this direction means a fundamental […]

LiMa - learning from history - the Kreisau circle

I saw him and my heart stopped. I had no idea what was happening. I had never experienced that before! And it was only when Daisy asked me: “What’s wrong with you?” that I said I didn’t know, but I told her what I found so puzzling, and then I found out – well, she […]

LiMa- second citrusharvest 2024

– we can live like in a paradise – without exploitation and without war In  LiMa’s Wintergardens we can cultivate citrustrees the second Citrus harvest at LiMa this year:  Japanese yuzu, Seville orange, Chinese satsumas and Buddha’s hand, a cedrat lemon that was cultivated in China thousands of years ago. Climate Initiative

LiMa- we learn from ourself -

resist dominance and exercise selfcontrol in the time of climate change! Climate Initiative

LiMa - learning from history - Jeremy Eichler

ABOUT THE COVENTRY CATHEDRAL – “The old cathedral, once the largest parish church in England, must have seemed like an impregnable fortress of God to its parishioners over the centuries. Now it couldn’t even fend off a drop of rain. This encounter with the radical fragility of constructions that once seemed permanent has long been […]

LiMa - learning from history - Oswald Mathias Unger

The biography of a city – With the division of Berlin into a western and eastern part, a situation arose – even if it only affects the plan – that is reminiscent of the equalization point 700 years ago, when the city was a community consisting of the alliance of two cities, Berlin and Kölln. […]

LiMa- learning from history - The reconstruction of the destroyed city - Josef Paul Kleihues -

Berlin has received an exhibition of many places that demonstrate the diversity of the city and have been able to develop exemplary solutions for the diversity of its problems. But the issues are not only specific to Berlin. Many issues are overarching and have a global impact. (…) The reconstruction of the destroyed city – […]

LiMa - No to demolition - HouseEurope!

LiMa supports the European Citizens’ Initiative HouseEurope! “HouseEurope! is the European Citizens’ Initiative for new EU-laws to make renovation and transformation more easy, affordable and social. Because the demolition of existing buildings is as outdated as food waste, animal testing and single-use plastics.” get informed: https://www.houseeurope.eu/ Join and sign: voting start 01.02.2025 Foto: Demolition of […]

LiMa - learning from history - state owned land - Liu Xiaobo

It was precisely the “state-owned land” that “legitimized” the forced demolitions and resettlements “The administrative statutes for the demolition and relocation of houses in cities” adopted by the State Council of the Chinese Communists and all corresponding regulations at all levels of government make the system of state ownership of land the source of their […]

LiMa - stand up against hate

We can all do better – #StandUpToJewishHate Thank you Joan and Deborah for our lovely talk on a thursday evening in a supermarket in Berlin Kreuzberg. Thank you for your message from the United States of Amerika.

LiMa - learning from history - Alexei Navalny

We called a thief a thief, corruption, corruption. If someone owned a huge estate, we not only pointed out its existence, we filmed it with drones and showed the property in all its splendor. And we learned its value and contrasted it with the modest income officially declared by the bureaucrat who owned it. You […]

The roofgardens of LiMa

“I have never made any specific plans for the terraces on the roof. I did however notice that in Berlin balconies are often combined, so maybe connecting roof terraces are a good idea.” Herman Hertzberger

LiMa with its southern roof gardens and flowing skies

On the roofs of LiMa grow sage, lemon balm, strawberries, laurel, rosemary, thyme, basil, tarragon and Argentine myrtle, while lemon balm, parsley and blue agapanthus grow on the citrus trees. Various types of peppermint grow at the water sources. Climate Initiative

September 7, 2024 Day of the open Monument in Germany

“The building is deliberately designed to allow residents to communicate with each other in many places, including through the staggered balconies.” Saturday September 7, 2024 – 12 noon https://www.berlin.de/landesdenkmalamt/aktivitaeten/presse/2024/pressemitteilung.1475096.php Guided tour: “Democratic” architecture and social housing from the 1980s. meeting point: Markgrafenstr. 6, Eberhard Elfert.

In the time of climate change

LiMa Roofgarden – In the foreground, the shiny yellow fragrant golden varnish (Erysimum cheiri) It took five years for the robust golden varnish to prevail against heat and cold in the extreme temperatures on the terrace.

Amsterdam - Berlin - The sculpture of Frieda Ysebaert

“So there were no plans. We left for Berlin with a car filled with tiles, three people and a small clay statue. Herman wanted there to be a figure or something that children could climb on and that also had water coming out of it. I first made a small model (1:12 scale) on clay […]

Structuralism

Structuralism is nurtured on the paradox, that order, rather than limiting freedom by using the correct structure theme in fact incites freedom, making space for the unexpexted. quoted from: Herman Hertzberger – projects 1990 1995

THE MOSAIC WORKSHOP OF AKELEI HERTZBERGER

“The balconies, the towers, you always could see that there were people outside working. Everybody can do this work. Working on a mosaic is sharing the unknowledgeable. We talked about what kind of story we build in the mosaic. So we composed the story line together. But the edge was the main thing to do […]

demolition kills

In Berlin, one has to be careful that history does not repeats itself nowadays in the southern Friedrichstadt, as happened in the 1970’s, when the corrupt Berlin Senate, also called the “Berlin Filz” supported the demolition of residential buildings in favor of profit-oriented new development. Southern Friedrichstadt, which to this day has been shaped by […]

a message from the past

In the course of the artillery bombardment and air raids in the final battle for Berlin in the spring of 1945, the city center of Berlin, which was laid out as a baroque block development from 1688 and was named Friedrichstadt after the Prussian King Frederick I, was largely destroyed. However, its baroque layout remained […]

private exchange and sharing economy

In the future, we will experience water shortages and ever-increasing food costs, perhaps even the unaffordability of food that we still take for granted today, because extreme weather and species extinction, a chain reaction of the laws of nature, are now taking place. Habitable space is becoming scarce. For this new and seemingly sudden situation, […]

the valley in which we live

The wind whistles and the sun touches the valley with its golden crest

The concept of the LiMa residential home Berlin

“The LiMa residential complex is located at the end of a triangular site, at the tip of which a church sets the accent. The building masses of this church are loosely related to the overall architectural planning. The development of this triangular island meant that the church remained a stand-alone building. The courtyard itself, conceived […]

"private claim to public space"

“The idea of the “in-between” removes the sharp distinction between areas with different territorial claims. The aim is therefore to create “in-between spaces” that are either private or public in administrative terms, but are equally accessible from both sides, i.e. both sides can reasonably be expected to allow the “others” to use them.” Herman Hertzberger […]

LiMa - urban ecology -

We stand for the restoration of natural spaces in the city. With dense hedges and gardens, we not only create habitats for birds and insects, but we also promote diversity, which does not mean chaos, but togetherness in the big picture. Learning from nature and understanding its laws, on which the climatic and ecological balance […]

Traffic calming in the Southern Friedrichstadt

The residents of LiMa witnessed accidents time and again. When there was another crash outside, we rushed out to help the injured. One day, we no longer wanted to accept these dangers for ourselves and others. We decided to document the accidents, analyze the traffic situation and submit an application to the city council for […]

LiMa zu Gast bei xberg klimaneutral e.V.

We were guests at xberg Klimaneutral e.V. and presented our project: Social and green townhouses. You can stream the presentations in the following link. https://xberg-klimaneutral.de/24-04-25_gemeinsam-aktiv-in-der-klimakrise.html Referent*innen: Cléo Mieulet – Graefekiez-Initiative Gabriella Sarges – Lima Wohnhof Berlin Climate Initiative Wajahat Ali – Khadija Moschee Kim-Hanna Redzepagik – 100% Tempelhofer Feld e.V. xberg climate neutral e.V. asks:” […]

LiMa for social and green cityhousing at Checkpoint Charlie

LiMa photographed in May 2024 from the Markgrafenstraße 11-14 demolition site; we are in favor of preserving social housing in Kreuzberg and are committed to the development of the social and green city of tomorrow at Checkpoint Charlie.

Call to action on climate crisis!

Lemons grow on the rooftops of LiMa.

The earth is brought to the roof!

News from the Climate Initiative LiMa Wohnhof Berlin: The citrus harvest from the LiMa Wohnhof has yielded 15 kilos of organic citrus fruit in its fourth year. The terraces and roofs in Herman Hertzberger’s architecture enable the entire built-up area to be reclaimed and thus reconcile the need for housing with the need for unsealing […]

LiMa in the cold war and behind the wall

“when I was a bird and sang in the evening” Alexei Nawalny dies Februar 16th 2024 (left) Opposition in the communist state German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the 1970s: the poets and singer Gerulf Pannach, Christian Kunert, Wolf Biermann und Jürgen Fuchs. Good neighborhood protects! dictatorships are a thing of the past

School and the crisis of democracy

Guido Landreh, enthusiastic self-builder of the LiMa Wohnhof Berlin when it was founded in 1986 and principal AD, described his vision of the school as follows: “My goal has always been to adapt the school as a place of learning to the needs of those it is meant to serve. Every pupil should be seen […]

Learning from history, strengthening democracy!

The LiMa Wohnhof neighborhood initiative supports the call of the descendants of the German resistance against German National Socialism 1933-1945 to “stand up to the new right in our country and throughout Europe”: Foto: Helmuth James von Moltke with his son Kaspar https://www.morgenpost.de/politik/article241580340/Widerstand-gegen-Hitler-Nachfahren-warnen-jetzt-vor-AfD.html

Citrus harvest at LiMa

Citrus harvest at LiMa Wohnhof Berlin: after just three years of setting up an orangery on LiMa’s terraces, we already have 10-20 kg of fruit from our lemon trees, oranges, kaffir limes, kumquats, cedrat lemons and bergamot.

On the death of the architect and urban planer Rob Krier (1938 - 2023)

For the first time since the IBA in 1957, an international building exhibition takes place in West Berlin with new directions in urban planning. Berlin in the eighties: The zeitgeist is changing. In architecture, the focus is no longer on striving for modernity, characterized by the demolition of old buildings and the construction of new […]

Stop the demolition of the high-rise building An der Urania 4-10 - rebuild instead of demolish!

“Together with about 15 others, we founded a new initiative to save the highrise building An der Urania 4-10 in Berlin that is meant to be demolished in january 2024.We would be happy if you support our new initiative: sign the petition against the demolition and follow @an.dersURANIA on instagram! This former office building an […]

endlich ist sie da ! nachricht nr. 1 blog

Welcome to LiMa world wide !