Mainstreaming Urban Interventionist Practices: the Case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin

The paper examines how practices of urban intervention have entered the mainstream by discussing the case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab. Financed by the German BMW group and realised by the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, the project addresses issues of contemporary urban life in the form of a ‘mobile la...

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Main Author: Monika Grubbauer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: TU Delft OPEN Publishing 2013-06-01
Series:Footprint
Online Access:https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/774
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author Monika Grubbauer
author_facet Monika Grubbauer
author_sort Monika Grubbauer
collection DOAJ
description The paper examines how practices of urban intervention have entered the mainstream by discussing the case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab. Financed by the German BMW group and realised by the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, the project addresses issues of contemporary urban life in the form of a ‘mobile laboratory’ with an explicit emphasis on participatory forms of urban intervention. The Lab’s temporary residence in Berlin in 2012 encountered fierce protests from residents and activist groups. I revisit the ensuing public debates and discuss the impact they had on the project. Drawing on in-depth interviews with people involved in the Lab the various notions of participation underlying the project are examined. It is shown that the Lab generated new and unexpected encounters and individual experiences. However, for solving actual problems the debates and experiments held at the Lab were too general, too exclusive and too short-lived to be of lasting relevance.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 1875-1504
1875-1490
language English
publishDate 2013-06-01
publisher TU Delft OPEN Publishing
record_format Article
series Footprint
spelling doaj-art-742aa08e63ab4f9494e2e928a8f2999e2025-02-03T05:58:04ZengTU Delft OPEN PublishingFootprint1875-15041875-14902013-06-017210.7480/footprint.7.2.774799Mainstreaming Urban Interventionist Practices: the Case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in BerlinMonika GrubbauerThe paper examines how practices of urban intervention have entered the mainstream by discussing the case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab. Financed by the German BMW group and realised by the Solomon Guggenheim Foundation, the project addresses issues of contemporary urban life in the form of a ‘mobile laboratory’ with an explicit emphasis on participatory forms of urban intervention. The Lab’s temporary residence in Berlin in 2012 encountered fierce protests from residents and activist groups. I revisit the ensuing public debates and discuss the impact they had on the project. Drawing on in-depth interviews with people involved in the Lab the various notions of participation underlying the project are examined. It is shown that the Lab generated new and unexpected encounters and individual experiences. However, for solving actual problems the debates and experiments held at the Lab were too general, too exclusive and too short-lived to be of lasting relevance.https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/774
spellingShingle Monika Grubbauer
Mainstreaming Urban Interventionist Practices: the Case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin
Footprint
title Mainstreaming Urban Interventionist Practices: the Case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin
title_full Mainstreaming Urban Interventionist Practices: the Case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin
title_fullStr Mainstreaming Urban Interventionist Practices: the Case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin
title_full_unstemmed Mainstreaming Urban Interventionist Practices: the Case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin
title_short Mainstreaming Urban Interventionist Practices: the Case of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in Berlin
title_sort mainstreaming urban interventionist practices the case of the bmw guggenheim lab in berlin
url https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/774
work_keys_str_mv AT monikagrubbauer mainstreamingurbaninterventionistpracticesthecaseofthebmwguggenheimlabinberlin