Blog

13.04.2025

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 […]

23.02.2025

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 […]

11.02.2025

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 […]

10.02.2025

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.

01.01.2025

LiMa - 2025 - Happy New Year

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

16.12.2024

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 […]

15.12.2024

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 […]

09.12.2024

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

08.12.2024

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!

08.12.2024

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 […]

06.12.2024

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 […]

04.12.2024

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 […]

03.12.2024

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

22.11.2024

LiMa- we learn from ourself -

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

13.11.2024

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 […]

09.11.2024

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. […]

06.11.2024

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 – […]

01.11.2024

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 […]

01.11.2024

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 […]

31.10.2024

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.

31.10.2024

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 […]

22.09.2024

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

07.09.2024

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

22.08.2024

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.

20.08.2024

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.

13.08.2024

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 […]

09.08.2024

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

09.08.2024

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 […]

05.08.2024

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 […]

04.08.2024

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 […]

01.08.2024

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, […]

22.07.2024

the valley in which we live

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

21.07.2024

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 […]

13.07.2024

"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 […]

07.07.2024

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 […]

07.07.2024

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 […]

27.05.2024

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:” […]

03.05.2024

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.

02.05.2024

Call to action on climate crisis!

Lemons grow on the rooftops of LiMa.

25.03.2024

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 […]

26.02.2024

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

16.02.2024

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 […]

07.02.2024

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

06.02.2024

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.

24.11.2023

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 […]

18.11.2023

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 […]

07.09.2023

endlich ist sie da ! nachricht nr. 1 blog

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