Head in the Clouds: Reimagining the Amazon Tower as an Arena for Public Life
(2025) AAHM01 20251Department of Architecture and Built Environment
- Abstract
- What happens when open, informal spaces disappear – and specifically, what happens when these spaces disappear in a city that used to be full of them?
My project is rooted in two things. The first is the highly debated ”Amazon Tower” in Friedrichshain, and the polarized urban conditions around it. The second is my love for Berlin. Berlin has always been a city in flux. However, the latest round of transformations bring up the question of who or what the city is for. There’s a desperate need for more affordable housing, but instead, all that seems to be built is high-end office space. At the same time, spaces for creativity, freedom, self determination/expression, exploration and play are rapidly being pushed out of the inner city by... (More) - What happens when open, informal spaces disappear – and specifically, what happens when these spaces disappear in a city that used to be full of them?
My project is rooted in two things. The first is the highly debated ”Amazon Tower” in Friedrichshain, and the polarized urban conditions around it. The second is my love for Berlin. Berlin has always been a city in flux. However, the latest round of transformations bring up the question of who or what the city is for. There’s a desperate need for more affordable housing, but instead, all that seems to be built is high-end office space. At the same time, spaces for creativity, freedom, self determination/expression, exploration and play are rapidly being pushed out of the inner city by commercial interests. I want to highlight what is being lost through this type of development, and the sometimes absurdity of it – while also suggesting ways in which things could perhaps be done differently.
To explore this issue, I have chosen to focus on the newly built Edge East Side Tower (commonly referred to as the Amazon Tower due to its intended main tenant) and its surrounding area around the Warschauer bridge. The bridge links the former East and West Berlin, and still today sits at the intersection of very opposite worlds. Since the fall of the wall, the area has been home to artists, clubs and DIY-culture, but it has also grappled with issues such as drug activity and homelessness. In recent years, however, the new constructions in the area have primarily been offices for tech and media companies, along with a commercial entertainment district. The contrast between what has previously been, and what is now being built here, is huge. While these two polarities currently coexist, the finalization of the Amazon Tower represents one step further in the direction of privatization and formalization of space.
In my thesis, I want to use the example of the tower as a way of exploring possibilities of changing the use and meaning of corporate space. Through working with ways of enhancing the quality and usability of the public space, both inside and around the building, I want to look at possibilities of affecting a building from the outside in. I also aim to provide an alternative to spaces where people are encouraged to just be in the role of the consumer, and instead offer open, undetermined spaces where agency is given back to people to be co-creators of their city. What spatial strategies can be used to reclaim public space within and around a corporate tower, making room for participation, creativity and belonging? (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9207966
- author
- Norrelgen, Ronja LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- AAHM01 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Urban planning, public space, Berlin, Germany
- language
- English
- id
- 9207966
- date added to LUP
- 2025-07-14 11:28:53
- date last changed
- 2025-07-14 11:28:53
@misc{9207966,
abstract = {{What happens when open, informal spaces disappear – and specifically, what happens when these spaces disappear in a city that used to be full of them?
My project is rooted in two things. The first is the highly debated ”Amazon Tower” in Friedrichshain, and the polarized urban conditions around it. The second is my love for Berlin. Berlin has always been a city in flux. However, the latest round of transformations bring up the question of who or what the city is for. There’s a desperate need for more affordable housing, but instead, all that seems to be built is high-end office space. At the same time, spaces for creativity, freedom, self determination/expression, exploration and play are rapidly being pushed out of the inner city by commercial interests. I want to highlight what is being lost through this type of development, and the sometimes absurdity of it – while also suggesting ways in which things could perhaps be done differently.
To explore this issue, I have chosen to focus on the newly built Edge East Side Tower (commonly referred to as the Amazon Tower due to its intended main tenant) and its surrounding area around the Warschauer bridge. The bridge links the former East and West Berlin, and still today sits at the intersection of very opposite worlds. Since the fall of the wall, the area has been home to artists, clubs and DIY-culture, but it has also grappled with issues such as drug activity and homelessness. In recent years, however, the new constructions in the area have primarily been offices for tech and media companies, along with a commercial entertainment district. The contrast between what has previously been, and what is now being built here, is huge. While these two polarities currently coexist, the finalization of the Amazon Tower represents one step further in the direction of privatization and formalization of space.
In my thesis, I want to use the example of the tower as a way of exploring possibilities of changing the use and meaning of corporate space. Through working with ways of enhancing the quality and usability of the public space, both inside and around the building, I want to look at possibilities of affecting a building from the outside in. I also aim to provide an alternative to spaces where people are encouraged to just be in the role of the consumer, and instead offer open, undetermined spaces where agency is given back to people to be co-creators of their city. What spatial strategies can be used to reclaim public space within and around a corporate tower, making room for participation, creativity and belonging?}},
author = {{Norrelgen, Ronja}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Head in the Clouds: Reimagining the Amazon Tower as an Arena for Public Life}},
year = {{2025}},
}