Photos: Berlin CoHousing and the Fight to Keep the City Accessible for All

While I was in Berlin, I visited the Spreefeld Cohousing community, which is designed to offer affordable housing and common resources to residents but also to benefit the public. You can read my full essay about it at YES! Magazine. Here are photos that give a glimpse of life at Spreefeld.

The 21 residents of one of the three buildings that makes up Spreefeld cohousing share this space.

Kitchen window in the shared space.

One of the shared kitchens at Spreefeld Cohousing.

View out the window from one building that is part of Spreefeld Cohousing of another building that is also part of the community. Balconies and roof gardens allow residents outdoor spaces not opened to the public.

Spreefeld Cohousing has co-working offices, workshops and galleries, and places, like this music room, for people to gather for creative activities.

The two bottom floors of each of the three buildings at Spreefeld Cohousing are for common use and for the public. This day care center takes children from neighboring apartment buildings as well as young cohousing residents.

The mural on this former squat, not Spreefeld, offers a glimpse of the long history of conflict over housing in Berlin.