Urban Fragment Observatory

The new, revised edition of a comprehensive survey of Inken and Hinrich Baller’s work.

Between 1966 and 1989, Inken and Hinrich Baller realized twenty-five buildings in (then West) Berlin and a private residence in Switzerland. Although most of these structures were designed and built within the narrow financial and regulatory framework of social housing, all of them exceed expectations, with filigree and brightness; large balconies, terraces, and gardens; natural lighting thanks to glass interior walls; generous floor plans; and complex spatial relationships across several stories. With their unconventional designs, the Ballers’ creations continue to serve as models for high-quality and affordable housing, as well as exciting urban spaces.

Visiting is the revised hardback edition of a comprehensive survey of Inken and Hinrich Baller’s work, which was first published in 2022 as a paperback and sold out within months. It offers detailed photographic documentation of their buildings in their current state, reproductions of original plans and drawings, historic documents, and construction site and aerial photographs. The rich visual material is rounded out by essays and conversations with the architects and with residents of the buildings.

Jeanne Astrup-Chauvaux, Sebastian Díaz de León, Lena Löhnert, and Florine Schüschkeare Urban Fragment Observatory, a Berlin-based spatial research collective.