Trigger
Point
Jeff Luckey
A Brief Report on Ellen-Epstein-Straysse (2012)
A short video report, in the
form of an updated newsreel,
presents one possible
outcome for the history of a
new Berlin street. This report
describes the current state
of Ellen-Epstein-Straße – a
recently opened commercial
roadway (finalised in 2009)
that can be found in the vicinity
of Tegel Airport. This urban
revitalisation project, originally
designed to alleviate traffic
congestion in the area just
southeast of Tegel airport,
will, in all probability, see far
less automobile traffic after
the upcoming finalisation of
Berlin’s new Berlin Brandenburg
Airport and the closure
of Tegel as an active airport.
With the hypothetical, yet
clearly foreseeable possibility
that this closure might render
the roadway redundant, the
report probes the complexities
of urban planning and design
– both its successes and its
failures.