a 100m pool for Potsdamer Platz
Along the western edge of Potsdamer Platz, BerlinTilla-Durieux-Park stretches for 485 meters as a long, sloping lawn between dense boulders. Kinzo Architects proposes to convert its central lane into a year-round leisure route, leading to a 15m by 100m outdoor track pool. The basin runs almost like an urban canal, with lanes around the axis and wooden decks running along one side. A pink path traces the edge of the park and continues towards the sports areas further south.
The idea starts with a known weakness in Potsdamer Platz, one of Europe’s best-known post-reunification planning projects and one of the most talked about. Its offices and tourist draws keep the area busy, although the public realm offers fewer reasons to stay. Tilla-Durieux-Park is right next to this activity, highly visible from the surrounding towers, but sparsely used at ground level. Kinzo knows the scene through the concept of creating sites for the continuous renewal of the Center am Potsdamer Platz, formerly the Sony Center.
visualizations © Kinzo Architects
from passing to staying longer
THE group at Kinzo describes the proposition as “proximity activation,” a strategy based on regular use by people who already live or work nearby. The swimming pool provides the main game, while the basketball and padel courts expand the sports program of the park. Beach volleyball occupies a separate section near the artists’ area. A water playground brings a smaller scale of movement to the design, and a grove of trees gathers guests around a long communal table. Karim El-Ishmawi, co-founder of Kinzo, imagines the park as “the living room of Potsdamer Platz.”
The extreme length of the pool gives the design its strongest visual movement. Swimmers cut a straight line across the site, while the surrounding lawn remains open for sunbathing and informal use. On the west side, tiered wooden seating rises alongside the water with changing rooms hidden in heavier volumes. The proportions seem unusually generous for a central city pool, yet they come straight from the park itself. Kinzo uses the narrow geometry of the site as an organizing concept rather than trying to disguise it.
Kinzo proposes a 100m outdoor pool along the Tilla-Durieux-Park in central Berlin
swimming in a berlin winter
A translucent membrane cover stretches over the pool during the cooler months, enclosing the water beneath a series of curved wooden ribs. From the inside, swimmers remain connected to the snow-covered trees and surrounding facades, while the long enclosure glows across the park after dark. The structure gives the outdoor pool a second seasonal identity and keeps the pool usable during the Berlin winter.
Winter performances extend this idea to the tree meadow, where a Christmas market appears among snowy plantings and the communal table remains in use. Further along the lawn, the pool dome becomes a warm tube within the pale landscape. These scenes shift the proposition beyond a summer comfort. Repeated uses and weather protection give the park a rhythm that can continue beyond occasional programming.
the 485-meter-long lawn is located next to Potsdamer Platz, among dense office and residential complexes
closing Berlin’s green corridor
Beyond the immediate park, Kinzo also looks south towards the Landwehr Canal and Park am Gleisdreieck. A future pedestrian bridge would close a missing link in Berlin’s north-south green corridor, connecting Tilla-Durieux-Park to a larger route of public landscapes. The swimming and sports program is designed as a stand-alone intervention, allowing it to proceed separately from this long-term piece of infrastructure.
Kinzo’s proposal asks whether a bold political comfort can change a place shaped by passing traffic. The 100m long pool gives the lawn an unmistakable identity, while smaller uses turn its entire length into a place where people can return. The car design remains an invitation, without a formal commission, but its central movement is immediately legible. A large swimming pool fills a large park, and a meandering lane next to Potsdamer Platz begins to look like a destination.
a translucent membrane cover encloses the pool during Berlin’s colder months
a tree gathers guests around a long communal table
