After more than thirty years in Kreuzberg, the New Society for Fine Arts (nGbK) has been forced to vacate its premises on Oranienstraße. Thanks to Kulturraum Berlin gGmbH, which was able to rent spaces in a state-owned property from the Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Berlin-Mitte (WBM) and is subletting them to the nGbK for the next ten years as part of its infrastructure funding, the art association’s continued existence has been secured.
Just in time for Berlin Art Week in September 2023, the association will move into its new premises on Karl-Liebknecht-Straße. In a former fast-food outlet right on Alexanderplatz, new exhibition, event, work and office spaces are being created across over 700 square metres. The reconfigurable spatial concept developed by the architectural firm Hütten und Paläste focuses on transparency, versatility and sustainability.
The spaces within an existing building dating from the 1970s are being renovated in an environmentally friendly manner. Interventions in the existing structure are kept to a minimum and spatial arrangements reduced to the essentials – a decision that reflects the building’s interim use and enables Kulturraum Berlin gGmbH, as the main tenant, to utilise the spaces in a variety of ways once the nGbK has moved out.