Show Garden Malzfabrik by 100Landschaftsarchitektur

100Landschaftsarchitektur: As part of the International horticultural exhibition ‘IGA 2017’ in Berlin, the show garden represents the Malzfabrik—in an adequately polyphonic and accessible way. Since 2008, under the flag of creativity, culture, and sustainability, the former malt factory has successively been redeveloped to cater for a multitude of uses. As it is undergoing scrupulous restoration and development, the vast complex is represented as a transparent volume made of scaffolding structures in the garden installation: a ‘building site’ as a reflection of the building’s historic envelope undergoing a process of transformation. Assembled with simple tube connectors, the powder coated scaffolding recalls the hues of the characteristic brick architecture, the rusty red of abandoned machinery parts and the protective coating of orientation systems. The different reds reproduce the eloquent materiality of the Malzfabrik.

The garden project points to former and current functions and creates an urge of curiosity for a visit in the real place. Large scale ‘fragments’ from the industrial past and industrious present are positioned inside the accessible structure: funnels, spiral conveyors and materials that showcase a beauty in and of themselves. Part of the showcased elements are a large table top made from wall cladding, a pavement of used bricks and a digital installation of the so-called IP-garden, featuring an internet based camera and irrigation control. Thus, beyond historic representation, currently active craftsmen, creators, and entrepreneurs are involved in the exhibition project. The fragments and colour codes bear labels with short, poetic explanations, which in a process of exploration by the visitor add up to a self-told story about the factory. Around the table visitors and staff may come together for a chat and further explanations.

The spatial structure of the scaffolding is based on a square grid of 1,45 m which also formulates the minimum width of passage. The overall height is 4,0 m, the minimum headway 2,50 m. The scaffolding structure is essentially stable and stands by itself. The scaffold bridges an l-shaped wooden deck, which as a material theme connects all exhibition contributions of the ‘Horizons’. The deck, together with the adjacent brick pavement guides the visitor movement. The scaffolding bears on simple concrete pavers (analogous to the wooden deck’s substructure). These pavers are set in the ground in order to minimize the break of continuity of the surrounding grassland.

RECONSTRUCTION

The whole garden installation was dismantled after the end of the garden show in fall 2017. In spring 2018, the installation was rebuilt in front of Malzfabrik. The scaffolding structure allowed simple adaptations to the site and its long-term presence next to the entrance to the „Big Red One“. The funnel elements and the hues of the horizontal tubes now prove themselves as a re-count of and on the authentic site.