With this year’s distinction of Natur Park Südgelände in Berlin, the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, whose headquarters are in the Italian city of Treviso, a park landscape in Germany has won the International Carlo Scarpa Prize for the first time in 25 years. The Natur Park, which opened in 1999, is located on the grounds of the former Tempelhof shunting yard in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district of Berlin. The green space now forms a bridge linking ecology, art and urban culture even as it represents the city’s special appreciation for nature.
Since 1990, the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche has been conferring the annual International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens. This award distinguishes outstanding examples of landscape architecture that relate to natural, historical and artistic values and bring them to life.
The award focuses particularly on the fundamental attitude of creating something new while preserving cultural heritage.
After the old Tempelhof shunting yard was finally shut down in 1952, nature reclaimed the 18-hectare area. Today, the park features old railway facilities, artistic steel constructions and wild, robust nature coexisting in a unique, dynamic way.
The park is part of a protected biotope network and forms the nucleus of a central outdoor system that extends a linear 8 km through Berlin. Large sections of the park have been a protected landscape and natural area since 1999. Along with the water tower and bridgemaster’s workshop, the historically protected overall facility at Natur Park Südgelände includes the locomotive hall, which measures just under 5000 m². The historically respectful renovation of this structure, with a view to long-term preservation, as well as a park-compatible repurposing as a location for cultural events and studios, is currently underway.
