PRINCESS GARDENS

"We knew from the beginning that turning the idea of an urban garden into a reality depended on a lot of people sharing the idea. What actually brought the garden into existence was the fact that hundreds if not thousands of people have invested their time, passions and experiences into creating it.

We soon realized that this form of social urban gardening could be an important inspiration for future urban development. We considered Prinzessinengarten as a kind of laboratory, expressing the social desires and needs of local Berlin residents. In working, engaging voluntarily, and creating their own projects within the garden, people have helped bring this garden into existence.

The question for us now is 'how can this passionate engagement with the local and the informal, become part of the answer to the challenges for tomorrow?' The attraction of our garden is not so much in the design of an object, or a landscape, but in the self-designing forms of social relations."