Gertraudenhain by Christof Zwiener, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2025
Gertraudenhain by Christof Zwiener
Spitteleck / Wallstraße 1
10117 Berlin
Gertraudenhain is a growing sculptural intervention taking root in the heart of an urban space plagued by air and environmental pollution. It is based on the ‘Tiny Forest’ reforestation concept developed by the Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.
By summer 2025 at the latest, a microclimate should be perceptible in this small, walk-through forest, creating a visible space for biodiversity and a much-needed enhancement of the public space. Local residents will be actively involved in the development, design and maintenance of the project, which aims to stimulate discussion on issues of urban development, sustainability and the relationship between art, culture and urban production.
Photo: Holger Herschel, 2025
Photo: Holger Herschel, 2025
Gertraudenhain by Christof Zwiener, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Holger Herschel, 2025
Photo: Holger Herschel, 2025
Photo: Holger Herschel, 2025
Gertraudenhain by Christof Zwiener, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Holger Herschel, 2025
Gertraudenhain in May, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2025
Gertraudenhain in May, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2025
Gertraudenhain in May, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2025
Photo: Laura Fiorio, 2025
Gertraudenhain in March, photo: Laura Fiorio, 2025
Gertraudenhain in March, photo: Laura Fiorio, 2025
Gertraudenhain in winter, photo: Christof Zwiener, January 2025
Christof Zwiener’s Gertraudenhain in December, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2024
Gertraudenhain in November, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2024
Gertraudenhain in November, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2024
Gertraudenhain in November, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2024
Christof Zwiener’s Gertraudenhain in October, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2024
Christof Zwiener’s Gertraudenhain in August, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2024
Christof Zwiener’s Gertraudenhain in August, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Christof Zwiener, 2024
Christof Zwiener’s Gertraudenhain in May, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Judith Laub, 2024
Christof Zwiener’s Gertraudenhain in May, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Judith Laub, 2024
Photo: Judith Laub, 2024
Photo: Judith Laub, 2024
Photo: Judith Laub, 2024
Photo: Judith Laub, 2024
Christof Zwiener’s Gertraudenhain in March, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Judith Laub, 2024
Christof Zwiener’s Gertraudenhain in March, KISR Leipziger Straße, photo: Judith Laub, 2024
Photo: Christof Zwiener, 2024
The project will be accompanied by eight seasonal talks and discussion events featuring experts on topics such as ecological alternatives for sealed surfaces, brownfield sites and green buffer zones, art in public urban spaces, land art, and resource-efficient art and cultural production. These events are actively co-organised by the ‘participatory group’ from the local community in order to specifically address the neighbourhood’s questions and concerns. This event format centred on Gertraudenhain is a key element of this artistic exploration of the public urban space on Leipziger Straße.
Christof Zwiener (born 1972 in Osnabrück) studied Interdisciplinary Sculpture at the University of Fine Arts in Braunschweig and works with aspects of public space specific to Berlin, such as transformation, displacement, densification, gentrification, and the social and political influences on how it is perceived. In doing so, he repeatedly draws on the concept of the superimposition of time; for him, the past, present and future are directly linked to an object, a situation, a building or a place. Generally speaking, temporary situations in public space possess a specific atmosphere or aura for Zwiener.