Since May 2022, the pioneers have been using the temporary buildings KARLA, ALEXIS (until spring 2025) and OTTO in the open spaces around the Haus der Statistik. Built from recycled containers, they offer space for exchange, culture, education and neighborhood – from workshops and theater to cooking events with refugees and monthly co-markets in summer.
As part of the refurbishment of the existing building, the pioneer uses were relocated to three temporary replacement buildings in the surrounding open spaces of the Haus der Statistik in May 2022: KARLA, ALEXIS (until spring 2025) and OTTO.
The container buildings were erected using a circular construction method – from reused modules from former emergency shelters. They are not just temporary solutions, but active places of use and encounter:
- KARLA serves as an open contact point – for questions, information, exchange and events. It is built on the footprint of the pavilion buildings on Karl-Marx-Alle that were planned in the historical planning of the KMA.
- ALEXIS, until its dismantling in 2025, was used for rehearsals and performances, as well as a collection point for donations in kind for those in need.
- OTTO regularly hosts exhibitions, workshops, choir rehearsals, theater formats and collaborations with refugees. Many small-scale uses are accommodated here under a common barrel roof.
Since the end of 2024, the House of Materialization has also been located at OTTO as a pioneering project – a place that combines circular material cycles and the sustainable use of resources with social commitment.
The monthly co-markets in the summer months are a particular highlight. Workshops, concerts, exhibitions and long tables showcase the diversity of pioneering projects – open, free and in the heart of the city.
The temporary buildings show: Intermediate spaces can also be designed to be lively, usable and oriented towards the common good – as a living practice of cooperative urban development.