arch & krach    






white elephant
venusberg II
last places for women in afghanistan
zeile für zeile
wo wir alt werden
das haus als organismus
le phare
poniente
sportzentrum windelsbleiche
how to repair robin hood gardens?
(neue) grossform
funkturm
über das wohnen
repair the system
empty beauties
framework for occupation
schwarz zu blau
fresno farmers market
addition
wohnen in sicht
drawing at perceptual limits
mind the gap
collection 01
hotel interim
living metamorphosis
intermission
verrerie
traumhäuser des kollektivs?
dis/assemble
01/17
fermen-t-able
void
drushba
hotel national
forum 27
re-fulfilment centre
beyond demolition
gecekondu
idle water
was ist phase?
das wilde bauen
das ist doch gemein!
under the bridge
a (siegen) learning space
ivry’s pier
kandylakia
craftmanship campus
oberhammer
split
extraordinary standards
the collected building
fiktion
documentary of spaces
ko(r)nversion
embracing uncertainty
who cares?
zwischenhaus
concrete operations
triemli+128
house of desires
leipziger allerlei
parasite
zeitdokument
data center
how many rooms you need?
anonynums sculture
rooms of curiosities
neues kösk
on what a shodow falls
post auto mobile
random access memories
panorama
umbau um umbau
kosmos der dinge
superparkmarkt
archifiktionherberge am grimselpass
kraft und licht
wandelhalle nord
reconstruct häring
upcyclinghof
hybrid
big mix
atelierhaus
revitalisierung einer werft
bauteildepot
sml
faust III
bauteil bahnhofarch
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
krach
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
arch
krach
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch
arch valerie boeckel
max sandred
felix piel
jonathan burkard, christian sternhagen
andreas stanzel
cäcilia halbgewachs
fernando garrido carreras
killian paterson
aberle, klein, jakoby, grebe
meryl barthe, noémie perregaux-dielf
jonathan burkard
hannah ehre, marlene koßmann
léon bührer
gabriyel dari
olga cobuscean
pierre bomey
francis cheung
kimberly rahn,  toni bethäuser
joshua delissen
max bender
lucy wang
christian sternhagen
thilo preuß, clemens urban
kaya liffler, paula scheibke
matthias walbröl
getas, lambard, bomey
christian sternhagen
dardenne, leridee, correia, bomey kaya liffler, paula scheibke
anna schmitz
mathis bergmann, jonas könig
emily bardenz, finn gredel, kian matine leander lentner
marlene koßmann
dao le
jonathan burkard, marlene koßmann, pola machinska, felix schröder, liffler, scheibke,  sternhagen, kiparski, faixfinn marcelli
jonathan burkhard
lilly irmer, sophie kalwa
léopold parras
johannes zerfass
christian sternhagen, jonathan burkard yannic kohnen
maximilian gömann, paulina kirschke jakob naujack
hannah herrmann, cecelia vincent
lina etzkorn, lorena cirillo
vitus michel, levin arnold
lina etzkorn
lukas frenzel eva beule, gerda callista, melissa enriquez, katharina glorius, franziska wilk, leander lentner, marlene koßmann
malte mittelstädt
jonah burgsteiner, klara schmidt
finn marcelli
marlene koßmann
felix piel
sebastian schaaf, ulrich kneisl, felix schröder, kaya liffler, paula scheibke
mathis bergmann
lina etzkorn
felix piel, fabian jäger
jonathan burkard, yannic kohnen
jonas könig, paul stockhausen
joshua delissen
jonathan burkard
dao le, christian sternhagen
mathis bergamnn, christian sternhagen christian sternhagen





about
mail
instagram
+  




                     





White Elephant


In 2025, the City of Hamburg has the unique chance to repurchase 100,200 m2 of buildable area in the middle of the city and turn private failure into a public asset. We are talking about the Elbtower.

An unfinished office building situated prominently at the entrance to Hamburg on an island in the Elbo. Hamburg can buy back the site including the built mass worth over 300 million euros for the original selling price minus a security: 117 million euros for 100,200m2 is a good deal. The area will be zoned and redistributed via the heritable building right. A type of land allocation that already exists. The annual returns, about 1 million euros, flow back into maintenance and upkeep. Hamburg will invest 40 million euros to extend the city's infrastructure and ensure connections to electricity, water and sewage. The arcas, removed from speculation, will become part of urban reality again. 

The empty tower can be perceived as a failure. But precisely because it has failed it now offers empty spaces that would never exist in a city that obeys market logic. Hamburg will be able to build the Natural History Museum itself and create social value rather than submitting to the creation of purely economic value. 

By building a façade, a protective layer is created. Behind it thus; air that can be used, space that can be owned. Within anything can be realized. Bedrooms can be the size of a bed and kitchens, studies, living rooms can expand. Building standards no longer play a role within the walls of a home. 

As a result of artificially created demand, the vacancy rate for office buildings in Hamburg is currently 6.6%. This is 2% higher than the German average. At the same time, there is a shortage of living space. If we want to prevent the city from becoming generic and bland, real needs and real users can no longer be pushed aside. Landbanking should be abolished. At the beginning of the 21st century, Germany privatized a large part of its remaining housing stock. Today, 94% of housing is part of the private sector. In order to keep pace with the privato markot, Hamburg has become private itself. This enables it to take credits, generate returns, make profits and reinvest. In the end, however, debts and risks are always secured by the state. The separation of the private market and the state has been purely fictitious for as long as debt has existed, i.e. since time immemorial. 

Cycles of speculation have mutually amplified each other. The current real estate crisis can no longer be ignored, nor countered by the measures that have lead to it. The Elbtower and the Schwabenlandtower are just two of many examples where system failure reveals itself. Precisely because speculation is based on scarcity, it has produced half-finished spaces in the wrong places. These failed projects are a burden. However, what failed is not necessarily the buildings themselves, but the abstract financial mechanisms that stand behind it. Our unfinished structures can become something that is not yet there, that hasn't even been thought of and that might never be there completely.


White Elephant is a diploma project by Lida Freudenreich and Kaspar Zilian. It was formulated in the span of a year at ETH Zurich. It was supervised at the Chair of Tom Emerson, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes and Olaf Gravert. Special thanks to Lorenza Donati (ALIAS) and Lucio Crignola (CRRA) who supported us in the project. 

To learn more visit: https://elbturm.ethz.ch