25 August 2026

Hamburg meets Berlin—and the question: How Do we want to live and coexist in the future?

 

On 25 August, Susanne Scharabi had the pleasure of moderating the second panel discussion as part of the exhibition “HAUPTSACHE WOHNEN – Housing in Berlin: Quality for the Future” at the BDA Galerie Berlin. Together with Christian von Oppen, Uli Hellweg, Daniel Luchterhandt and Regine Siegl, the discussion centred on communal forms of living and affordable, high-quality housing. The focus was on what makes for good neighbourhoods and the role architecture plays in this.

Particularly fascinating was the look at the IBA Hamburg and the question of which lessons from it might be relevant for the planned IBA Berlin 2034–37, and what impulses an IBA can create in the long term for sustainable urban development. A key insight from the evening: the experiences from Hamburg cannot simply be replicated, as the context has changed. This makes collaborative processes all the more important, as does the early identification of a location’s potential and the courage to explore new approaches to planning and urban development together with all stakeholders. This is precisely where one of the special opportunities of an IBA lies: not in prescribing quick-fix solutions, but in creating space for new ideas, collaborations and ways of living together.

The discussion took place as part of the exhibition “HAUPTSACHE WOHNEN”, which showcases around 60 public and co-operative housing projects from the past 15 years, thereby highlighting, in very concrete terms, different approaches to affordable, sustainable and community-based living.

The exhibition can be seen at the BDA Galerie Berlin, Mommsenstraße 64, until 30 September 2026.