Gaudí’s Living Room
Pankow’s Sagrada Família
When strolling down Florastraße in Pankow, past organic grocery stores, restaurants, bookstores, and other thriving independent shops, you might do a double-take halfway along the road.
There, right on the sidewalk, are tables, chairs, a lamp, and a bed.
While it's customary for Berliners to simply dump their bulky waste out on the streets, these pieces appear carefully arranged and somehow immovable.
As you draw closer, your impression is confirmed – the furniture is made of stone, its surfaces decorated with Gaudí-esque mosaics.
A metal plaque on the ground explains that this sculpture installation refers to the floor plan of a Gründerzeit apartment from 1895.
In 2005, the artists Gersch and Jerchov were commissioned by the Pankow Parks Department to transform a wasteland into a so-called pocket park.
Their work is titled “Gute Stube” (Living Room) and it invites passersby to linger. A Mensch-Ärgere-Dich-Nicht (Ludo) board is embedded into the table, and there are two Biedermeier wing back chairs and a couch.
The bed isn’t exactly comfortable, but it works if you have a cushion.
What I like most is the moment of confusion as you approach it.
“Lightness starting at two tons” was the artists’ motto.
Due to its originality, this bizarre stone pocket park was awarded the "Gustav-Meyer-Sonderpreis 2005" for excellence in landscape architecture and garden design.
A space for eternity has been created here – one that fortunately withstood the redevelopment of the plot behind it. It survived the construction of yet another modern concrete bunker that sadly replaced the beautiful white villa that once stood there.
📍 Florastraße 87, 13187 Berlin
