Back at Straulaer Alle, the glass factory. The
two buildings on site blow me away everytime I visit. The quality of natural light is incredible, as well as the views to the West of Berlin.

Evidence of use and a sort of haphazard adaptation scheme is evident in the grafitti, and spontaneous uses, which repsond to the parculiarities of these building's architecture, and which differ from day to day.

Unfortunately the formal agenda for reuse on this site is demolition (not reuse at all in fact). And prefab housing complexes thereafter. This stack of concrete pavers- on the right- was symbolically telling of the future, I thought.






Below, the subtle evidence of how people interact with the space. The man fixing his bike; consciously or not, he discovered the perfect use for this ramp. On the sunny and wind protected side of the building, he could stand eye level with the motor and listen to his battery powered radio, saying hello to neighbors on their shortcut route across the site.
Grafitti here, too, is often a particularly site specific form of expression.









Above, the top, 6th floor of the glass factory; amazing views and cathedral like feel. There is a catwalk around the very tip top; I can't imagine its original purpose, but it is a wonderful feature nonetheless.




Above, where the rail penetrated the factory. This path is a well used shortcut, and the unloading platform is a nice, indoor/outdoor feature of the building, where people often meet and sit when the sun is low in the afternoon.


Very graceful steelwork; the arc form, which you cannot see all of in this photo, reminds me of bird wings

the crest of the "bird wing" opens with a skylight, allowing an even natural light that fills the whole space. There are windows along the walls as well, which have been boarded up.