Maxim’s work is based on the site of the former Tempelhof in Berlin. The project explores how existing urban monuments can be adapted for a 24/7 use, by applying concepts of ‘Shearing Layers’ and ‘Support & Infills’. The Hangars of the former airport building are utilised to provide climatic conditions suitable for housing, creating the necessary shelter for a replicated, but participatory architecture. The project examines how better quality, low-tech, inclusive environments might benefit us all.

By questioning the elements in our homes and their humble functions, the project questions to what extent services and furniture can take on architectural roles, creating and activating a mobile form of construction. This mobility enabling a reusable and adaptive architecture.

The design is realised through a series of inventive installation-like objects that are gradually adapted and changed until they become occupiable interiors. The final film is a twin-narrative depiction of life in the hanger, seen from the perspective of a new occupant and then from the disembodied view of the articulated service infrastructure. Using the occupant and the services as the two main protagonists, the film ultimately questions how they can come together as collaborators and co-creators of an exposed, reusable and adaptive architecture.