Tempelhof Airport

Villain: Albert Speer chief architectural designer for the Nazi Party, and later on the Allies using the airport to respond to the cold war crisis.

Plot: Tempelhof airport initially was constructed in 1927 , however its plans were exaggerated during the Nazi regime as part of Albert Speers plan for the reconstruction of Berlin during the Nazi era, Prof. Ernst Sagebiel was ordered to replace the old terminal with a new terminal building in 1934. However the airport’s construction never finished by the Nazi’s due to Second World War. The airport halls and the adjoining buildings, intended to become the gateway to Europe and a symbol of Hitler’s “world capital” Germania, are still known as one of the largest built entities worldwide, and have been described by British architect Sir Norman Foster as “the mother of all airports”

Although under construction for more than ten years, it was never finished because of World War II. The building complex was designed to resemble an eagle in flight with semicircular hangars forming the bird’s spread wings. A mile-long hangar roof was to have been laid in tiers to form a stadium for spectators at air and ground demonstrations.

Tempelhof was heavily used during the Cold war for airlifting food and supplies to West Berlin. In addition to the airlift operations, American engineers constructed a new 6,000-foot runway at Tempelhof between July and September 1948 and another between September and October 1948 to accommodate the expanding requirements of the airlift. The last airlift was in 1949.

The airport ceased operating in 2008 in the process of establishing Schönefeld as the sole commercial airport for Berlin. The airfield was closed off for the public until 2010. Now the airfield is open to the public, and has become one of Berlin’s favorite parks. There are kite competitions, cycling, skateboarding, picnic areas and community garden’s to name a few activities that take place. What was once used as a response to the cold war crisis is now becoming an important piece of culture, architecture and landscape because the public can decide for themselves how to use the space.

Location: Berlin (former West Berlin)

Program: Airport, (hangers and runways) offices, shops, aircraft production facilities underneath airport, jails cell for Russian soldiers during WWII and now park space, community gardening , dog walk areas, wildlife conservation and bbq areas.