Wohnkomplex-Neubrandenburg. Kunst und Leben im Plattenbau

The exhibition “Housing Complex – Neubrandenburg. Art and Life in Prefabricated Housing” explores an architectural and lifestyle model that shapes the ‘City of Four Gates’ like almost no other in Germany: prefabricated housing. Through works of contemporary art and art from the GDR, the exhibition demonstrates how this type of housing and architecture continues to influence the urban landscape and society to this day. Against the backdrop of the rampant housing shortage in Germany, the exhibition and its accompanying programme also draw parallels with one of the majorsociopolitical challenges of the present day.

Plattenbau was once at the heart of GDR social policy – a place of socialisation and a symbol of real socialist progress. In Neubrandenburg, this model was met with a largely positive response until 1990. After the end of the GDR,the prefabricated housing estate became the scene of painful transformations and social division. To this day, it remains in a process of transformation between its status as a historic monument and its lived present – a contested site of memory where people continue to live and go about their daily lives.