Castle in the Clouds

PHOTOGRAPHY

Feb 3

Photographer Lenny Steinhauer explores the fragile afterlife of a modernist social utopia that still functions today. The Ihme-Zentrum in Hanover is a brutalist structure caught between decay and persistence, revealing how a seemingly hopeless architectural vision is sustained by the people who continue to inhabit and give meaning to it.

Photography Lenny Steinhauer

What future do the dreams and visions of the past have today?

According to the German Tenants‘ Association, there is a shortage of more than 900,000 affordable social housing units in Germany. This primarily affects people in a financially precarious situation and makes the current vacancy rate and ineffective use of living space all the more incomprehensible.

The Ihme-Zentrum in Hanover was planned as a “city within a city” and was built exactly 50 years ago on the largest contiguous concrete foundation in Europe. The brutalist building complex promised effective living space, surrounded by all the advantages and necessities of urban life.

The Ihme-Zentrum in Hanover was planned as a “city within a city” and was built exactly 50 years ago on the largest contiguous concrete foundation in Europe.

Today, only 1,500 of the originally planned 2,400 people still live here. The decline in retail trade at the turn of the millennium led to the base floor becoming vacant. Only a fraction of the 60.000 m² commercial space is used by a few small businesses. Various investors have already failed to revitalise the brutalist building in the past. The construction work required for maintenance was repeatedly halted due to a lack of payment.

The foundations are now exposed in many places and the reinforcement of some of the load-bearing pillars is exposed to the weather. Architect Gerd Runge fears that the stability of some areas will no longer be guaranteed in around five years‘ time. The current majority owner and major investor, Lars Windhorst no longer pays the monthly house payment of 470,000 Euros. As a result, a mountain of debt of 13 million Euros has accumulated. In addition, Windhorst‘s shares are encumbered with a land charge of 290 million Euros. In future, the monthly costs are to be borne by the homeowners, which means a financial catastrophe for almost everyone.

Despite its hopeless future, this monstrosity of cold concrete is kept alive by the people who live there for a variety of reasons.

About Lenny

Lenny Steinhauer (b. 1994, Zwickau, Germany) is a photographer based in Vienna, Austria. His interest in photography developed through family photos, which his mother used to take.

He currently studies Visual Journalism and Documentary Photography at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover.

To see more of his work, visit his website

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Photographer Lenny Steinhauer explores the fragile afterlife of a modernist social utopia that still functions today. The Ihme-Zentrum in Hanover is a brutalist structure caught between decay and persistence, revealing how a seemingly hopeless architectural vision is sustained by the people who continue to inhabit and give meaning to it.

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Castle in the Clouds

The Ihme-Zentrum in Hanover was planned as a “city within a city” and was built exactly 50 years ago on the largest contiguous concrete foundation in Europe.

Despite its hopeless future, this monstrosity of cold concrete is kept alive by the people who live there for a variety of reasons.

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