Miniloft owners Britta and Matthew are also the architects of both Miniloft buildings. FRIZZ23 building, that houses the 14 apartments of Miniloft Kreuzberg and Cafe Nullpunkt, is part of an urban development that just won the Deutscher Städtebaupreis 2020.
The project developed the former wholesale flower market at the end of Friedrichstrasse in Kreuzberg into a co-creative urban space that aims at pursuing sustainable development strategies in this neighborhood. The three buildings Frizz23, Metropolenhaus and IBeB are at the center of the project. Together with the academy of the Jewish Museum and the building of the newspaper 'taz' they form a new part of the neighborhood that create a new kind of urban space. An impulse for positive social and economic development within the city.
This part of the city had been kind of a 'dead area'. The proximity to Checkpoint Charlie and the wall made it an underdeveloped area during the Cold War. During the International Building Exhibition (IBA) in 1987, architects and developer started to put architectural emphasis on the area but it took until way into the 2000s to come up with a development plan that ultimately worked for this part of town. The plan is based on participation and the building permits ultimately were given to the most useful concept that would create the most added value for the neighborhood.
Frizz23 and Miniloft Kreuzberg have come long way. When you're there, especially in Miniloft Kreuzberg, and when you take the area in, when you enjoy a nice stroll, a coffee, and just let the urban space in the immediate neighborhood kind of talk to you - then you notice that the concept seems to have worked.
