Urbane Transformation in Berlin
Das Innovationsprojekt Berlin TXL transformiert den Flughafen Tegel zu einem vielseitig nutzbaren Zukunftsort Berlins
Tegel is history. The airport, once the heart and soul of the Berlin district of Tegel, has been closed since November 2020. But Tegel is also the future. The project "Berlin TXL" aims to transform the old airport area into a futuristic campus where research and entrepreneurship meet cultural and urban life. The revitalisation of the site as a centre for encounters, progress, and visions promises to enrich the city of Berlin with a new attraction and many new creative impulses.
Setting new standards has always been part of Tegel's identity. Built in record time, the former rocket launching site became an airport in 1948; with a runway that was the longest in Europe at that time.
What started as an airlift soon became a lifeline for the isolated occupied zones in West Berlin, who were dependent on the carriers providing them with food and resources to live. With the start of the Berlin Wall construction in 1961, it finally evolved into West Berlin's most important airport and a hub for the Western world.
Up until 2020, planes departed from Tegel to Paris, London, and New York, to the greatest metropolises and most exotic destinations of the late 20th Century. Tegel was the place where the rich and famous, stars, and politicians landed. It was where people celebrated when the Wall fell in 1989, and where finally the first planes from East Berlin landed. Tegel has always been a place of change and a destination where people embark upon a new future.
Nowadays, as other airports have replaced Tegel as the main gateway of city visitors, it is time for a new transformation project: Tegel is set to become an innovative and well-connected hub for science, business, and urban life. Since its inception in 2021, the project has been making great strides towards the future.
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Berlin is a city that constantly grows and changes. A city that aims to be sustainable, smart, and innovative. A city that thus needs space for new people, ideas, and projects, fostering both development and sustainability.
Accordingly, Berlin TXL is the project to bring this future vision in shape. Coordinated by the Tegel Projekt GmbH, an innovative district is emerging from the old site, providing housing with high quality of life, spaces for technologies and initiatives, and areas for events and cultural offerings. A district that is both green and colourful.
Across the entire 500-hectare area, various buildings are being constructed. Especially their multi-usage concepts are exemplary, marking Berlin Tegel as an international location full of innovation and synergies, and focusing on the long-term use and management of urban spaces.
The heart of Berlin TXL is a research and industrial park for urban technologies. Once an architectural landmark of Tegel, the terminal is now the new home of the Berlin University of Applied Sciences. Here, product and process solutions for the cities of tomorrow are developed, tested, refined, and exported. This will create up to 20,000 jobs and 2,500 study places in the fields of mobility, energy, water, recycling, and more.
Hall 3 will be turned into a meeting place and project space for true makers, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. While in the past the halls served to service and repair planes, people will soon develop and fine-tune business models there. That makes the Hangar the ideal setting for product launches, festivals, markets, workshops, and interactive event formats.
Complemented by the exhibition spaces in Hall 6, the Maker Space can also become a space for creativity and culture, art, and social exchange. Exhibitions, readings, theatre, and film screenings might inspire new ideas and enrich the cultural and social life on site.
To strike an optimal balance between work and social life, Tegel Projekt GmbH is planning a residential quarter of timber construction. The new buildings shall provide over 5,000 affordable apartments for more than 10,000 people. Also, the housing offer in Berlin TXL will further be expanded by the Cité Pasteur and TXL Nord, where up to 4,000 additional apartments are to be erected.
In accordance with the so-called "sponge city" principle, the quarter is designed to be sustainable and resource-efficient. In addition to that, the quality of life for residents will be enhanced through kindergardens and schools, inclusive leisure and educational facilities, shopping centres, and many additional green spaces that, for example, store rainwater for later utilisation.
The central example of such recreational spaces is the 220-hectare nature reserve of Tegeler Stadtheide. On the one hand, the area will be connected to a low-exergy network to generate energy from renewable resources and distribute it across the entire site. On the other hand, it will also create a large urban open space for walking, sports activities, and nature experiences.
In sum, the Berlin TXL campus will become a microcosm of a city - full of life, potential, and future prospects, continually creating new places to meet, interact, and inspire.
What is more, due to its diverse offerings and its consistent sustainable future orientation, Tegel could soon become an attractive centre for various event formats.
Indeed, since its opening in April 2023, the information centre (the central hub for visitors to Berlin TXL) has been a platform for exhibitions and other kinds of events. The open floor, the 230 square metres of indoor space, and an equally large outdoor terrace provide space for as much as 199 people. Located at the heart of the area, the information centre might also serve as a starting point for tours to and break-outs within the various other buildings in close proximity. Those can be booked in combination and offer further opportunities for networking, expert discussions, or workshops for decentralised events.
Overall, the versatile areas allow to create synergies and increase sustainability in the planning, organisation, and staging of events - a decisive advantage for event planners.
First and foremost, the functional mix of versatile facility usage, opportunities for flexible event design, and short distances makes Tegel an attractive location for large events and open-air formats. With a good, mobility-friendly signposting system between the individual buildings, a clear on-site-navigation system and mobility-friendly, efficient routing, the campus is perfectly suited for large congresses, trade fairs, and concerts with several thousands of visitors.
Each building is designed to cater to different occasions and target groups. Everything is conceivable, from exclusive galas to urban art installations, and public events for community engagement.
Furthermore, the direct access to the young, interested, and well-connected audience that is given due to educational institutions and student housing on campus also offers a great incentive for representatives of companies and industries looking for young talents.
Besides, the portfolio diversity of the events that can be organised is strengthened by the well-preserved historical and architectural features of the former airport. The old buildings provide an interesting contrast to the forward-driving atmosphere that characterises this place. The spirit of the future, which is palpable at Berlin TXL, certainly shapes and supports the framework of the events that will take place here.
To sum up, Berlin TXL is a truly exceptional and ambitious project. The former Tegel Airport is set to become a new centre for encounters, community building, entrepreneurial spirit, and social, and cultural life. This is because new flexible, versatile, and multifunctional usage concepts of the abandoned industrial spaces transform the site into a hub where interdisciplinary work, quality of life, and local community intersect.
Sustainability, collaboration, innovation, and networking are at the forefront here. With Tegel TXL, Berlin is setting an example of active participation in the development of viable and sustainable solutions for the challenges of the future.
Berlin TXL is thus a pioneering example of urban development for cities of the future. That’s why Berlin is an optimal location for all events that align with the same values.
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