PROJECT DETAILS

Dietmar Grötzebach / Gerd Neumann / Günther Plessow: Youth Center (today: Haus Zille), 1969?–1972

  • Berlin, Germany, Show on map
  • #PUB #Western Europe
  • The ensemble consists of multiple structures and is a rare example of combining several youth centered institutions in one complex. Among other things it included a protectory, juvenile shelter, kindergarten, elementary school and youth center. The main building consists of a tall and an elongated flat part. A grass rampart shields the main building from the street and connects the entrances with foot bridges towards the city. Particularly noteworthy are the recessed concrete cylinder staircases that segment the façade.

  • The center was only used for its original purpose for a few years. Until 2022, it housed several social institutions and apartments. In the past couple of years, the youth center was threatened by demolition and redevelopment plans. Although the initiative „Wem gehört Berlin“ (Who owns Berlin) and a petition had tried to prevent it, the state-owned housing company Berlin-Mitte (WBM) decided to demolish the flat part of the complex and create a square for the neighborhood with access to the Fritz-Schloß-Park instead. The demolition work was carried out at the end of 2022. Now, a new building with many apartments, commercial space, consultation and office space for social organizations, cultural use and a mosque is to be built there by 2027.
    The high-rise building of the complex is to be retained and used by social institutions (last updated on February 19, 2025).