Elizabeth Street Garden – Seminar
Project information
submitted by
Verena von Beckerath
Co-Authors
York Beese, Jonas Beulich, Tom Deichsel, Hannah Deimel, Luise Fieger, Jannica Grosch, Fenja Kendler, Linus Kohn, Henri Krappitz, Jakub Labedz, Carlotta Lüdecke, Sophia Riegel, Louisa Schaaf, Laurin Schölzel, Julius Schulze, Rebecca Voigt
Mentors
Verena von Beckerath, Till Hoffmann
Faculty:
Architecture and Urbanism
Degree programme:
Architecture (Master of Science (M.Sc.))
Type of project presentation
Exhibition
Semester
Summer semester 2026
- Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8 - Hauptgebäude / Main Building
Available during summaery's regular opening hours
Project description
"While representation forms the very basis of architecture, and serves as a perennial site for its discursive reinvention, its formats and techniques are not exclusive to it. Representation is how architecture demonstrates itself to be not only present within, but critically relevant to contemporary debate, concern, and struggle at large."
Axel, Nick, Hugo Corbett, Salomon Frausto,Nikolaus Hirsch, Marina Otero Verzier, Tamar Shafrir, and Anton Vidokle. “Architecture and Representation—Editorial.” e-flux Architecture, 2017.
The seminar examined the relationship between architecture and representation using a particular case study. A joint project was created against the backdrop of the Elizabeth Street Garden in the NoLIta neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. The community garden, located on a vacant lot, has existed since the 1990s; it is owned by the city government and is managed and maintained by a nonprofit organization and its members. For several years now, the site has also been the subject of discussions regarding affordable housing in New York City. The efforts to preserve the Elizabeth Street Garden—in which local artists and activists, in particular, are involved—are about more than just this one special place. The conflict reflects a citywide dichotomy between urban development and affordability on the one hand, and residents’ need for community, culture, and nature on the other.