A new international architecture competition that asks designers to ideate housing atop Tempelhofer Feld has sparked outrage in Berlin. The 940-acre green space about the size of Central Park is frequented by 200,000 people every week. A referendum was passed in 2014 that was supposed to stymie new buildings on the former airfield, but Germanys ruling coalition made up of center-right (CDU) and center-left (SPD) parties is intent on developing the park to allegedly help quench the capitals housing crisis. Tempelhofer Feld sits beneath the defunct Berlin Tempelhof Airport, a gargantuan complex planned in the 1930s by Ernst Sagebiel, one of Albert Speers stooges. The airport was shuttered in 2008its runways werent big enough for todays jumbo jets and it was too close to the city center. Its replacement, Berlin Brandenburg Airport, opened in 2020. Still, Berlin Tempelhof Airport is among the 20 largest buildings on earth, a place that Norman Foster called the mother of all airports. Tempelhofs dubious history aside, the adjacent park is cherished; on any given day its regular to see visitors fly kites, have picnics, go on dates, read books, and find respite there.A kiting skateboarder at Tempelhofer Feld circa 2021 (Mitch Altman/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 2.0)Now, developers and government leaders want to change all that. Last week, the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building, and Housing announced its Tempelhofer Feld Ideas Competition which asked designers to consider how the park may be opened up to thoughtful peripheral development. This is happening despite the Tempelhofer Feld Law that was passed in 2014 thanks to a group called 100% Tempelhofer Feld Initiative, who fought for the referendum. A Vital Ecological HabitatToday, opposition groups like Architects4THF have teamed up with 100% Tempelhofer Feld Initiative to stop development from happening. The need for more housing in Berlin is real, opposition leaders say, but commodifying a beloved public utility isnt the right way to go about it. This echoes a similar story unfolding in New York where activists are fighting to stop development from coming to Elizabeth Street Garden in Manhattan, albeit whats unfolding in Berlin is on a much larger scale.Tempelhofer Feld is one of Berlins most significant green spaces and a vital ecological habitat, said Bika Rebek, a Berlin-based architect and educator, , and organizer for Architects4THF. Rebek said that the ideas competition which entails permanent construction at Tempelhofer Feld undermines the democratic mandate instilled in the 2014 law and opens the park to real estate speculation.Cyclists at dusk on Tempelhofer Felds runway (Lukas Beck/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)Tempelhofer Feld first opened up for public use in 2010, two years after Berlin Tempelhof Airport closed, thanks to a master plan by McGregor Coxall, a landscape architecture firm with offices in the U.K. and Australia. After the ribbon cutting, the park quickly took on a new life as the largest public space in Berlin. But loopholes still allowed for buildings to be built on the parks fringes, a gray area that was plugged in 2014 when the Tempelhofer Feld Law was passed. Still, it wouldnt be difficult for the Berlin House of Representatives to overturn the referendum, protesters note. They would just need a simple majority vote, like any other law.CDU officials say they want to build housing for working families, but many arent so sure about the ruling coalitions motivations.Emptiness has a space and silence has a voiceBerlin needs another 194,000 additional apartments by 2030, according to its 2019 urban development plan, in order to meet current demand; but how exactly to fix that problem has created the usual striations (and Twitter/X fights) between YIMBYs and NIMBYs. For years after World War II, there were bombed out land parcels all over Berlin where new buildings could go up, but now it seems those are depleted. What is to be done?Community garden at Tempelhofer Feld (Joe Mabel/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)The pro-development bund says the answer is seemingly obvious: Build up areas where there arent any buildings, like public parks. Those on the left however have taken a more anti-capitalist approach by vying for things like rent control: In 2020, the city government passed a rent control law, but that ruling was declared unconstitutional in 2021 after stiff pushback from the real estate lobby. Thousands of Berliners took to the streets to protest the ruling.Today, Berliners like Rebek are working to keep Tempelhofer Feld public, permanently. Rebek said that Architects 4THF and 100% Tempelhofer Feld Initiative teamed up to call attention to this critical issue and advocate for the continued protection of Tempelhofer Feld as an irreplaceable public and ecological asset for the city, she noted. The decision not to build can also be an architectural statement: Emptiness has a space and silence has a voice.