Methodology and Approach

The present research is based on a review of archive documents, a study of literature and fieldwork. I conducted it from Leuven and Berlin for 18 weeks between March and August 2022.

Literature

After defining my research topic, I started a phase of reading that extended until the end of the thesis. The explored literature concerned the overarching subject of space and gender, looking at the issues of urban planning and housing. Another field involved literature about socialism crossed with topics of gender and spatial planning, and more specifically about East Germany. Finally, I reviewed more site-specific literature about Berlin’s planning history, particularly about the international exhibition of 19874/87 and the East German complex reconstructions. Furthermore, I included readings about Berlin’s current urban politics, including matters of gentrification and financialization.

Archives

Torstraße The literature about the Torstraße was very limited. The primary sources to understand the project were articles written in GDR's magazines in the Berliner Stadtbibliothek (Berlin City Library). Iris Dullin-Grund's estate stored at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space in Erkner was more abundant with photographs. However, only samples of plans, site plans and facades were found.

Dessauer Straße While some of the buildings developed during the IBA 1984/87 are extensively documented, there is only one recent book from Anna Krüger (Krüger 2021) about the building from Myra Warhaftig on the Dessauer Straße. Therefore, access to archives played a significant role in my research. I went to the Landesarchiv (State Archives) in Berlin, which has a dedicated section about the IBA 1984/87. I had access to a press review, plans, and reports written during the IBA process. I was also in contact with the Karlsruhe Technology Institute, where Myra Warhaftig’s estate is stored, which provided substantial materials.

Fieldwork

Active observation Since my access to the dwellings was limited, my observations focused on the interractions outside the buildings, including the courtyards. Since I could not get statistics about the residents, through active critical observation, I aimed at finding indications about who is inhabiting the studied projects, considering visible characteristics about gender, age, class, and race. Through tours by bike and by walking around the two sites, I paid attention to the accessibility of transportation and amenities. Looking at the streetscapes, I could also draw conclusions about ownership structures. They can be legible in the way buildings and streets are maintained and what type of commerce are implemented.

Semi-guided interviews - Torstraße I approached the residents through an intermediary organization called the Volkssolidarität (People’s solidarity). This non-profit organization for older people has one space on the ground floor of the Torstraße in the project studied. I visited them, and the coordinator, Ms Mamoudou, put me in touch with two women residents. They were both German, white, in their 60s and pensioners. I could conduct two semi-guided interviews with them. The first one was led in April 2022 with the two of them in a group discussion right after we met in the sports room of the association. They told me I could visit their flats when I would come back in the summer. I contacted them again in July 2022, and only one of them, Mrs H, agreed to see me after returning from holiday in August. I visited Ms H’s flat on August 9th.

Dessauer Straße Due to a lack of time and inadequate approach methods, I was unsuccessful in meeting residents. I did not find social organizations that could play an intermediary role in the surroundings, so I first contacted the housing company, which did not get back to me. I hung flyers in the hallways in March and mid-July 2022, advertising my interest in meeting with residents, but I did not get contacted. At the end of July, I could meet Silja Glomb through a common acquaintance in Berlin. She realized her master thesis about the Dessauer Straße and Myra Warhaftig’s struggle to implement it in 2017. She conducted and transcribed two interviews with the residents and photographed their dwellings. One of them lived in Myra Warhaftig’s former flat. She kindly agreed to give me access to her materials. After reviewing them, I decided to stop trying to meet residents since I evaluated that her materials would cover the needs and time frame of this present research.