Juval Dieziger is co-founder and Chief Emotional Officer of Holzmarkt, one of Berlin’s most spectacular urban development projects. This 18’000 square-meter urban oasis at the intersection of Berlin’s most popular neighborhoods will host a hotel, night club, a restaurant, a gallery, shops, experimental work spaces, a hair dresser and much more!
The Holzmarkt adventure started with Bar 25, one of Berlin’s most famous underground clubs Juval and his partners in crime founded in 2003. It quickly became a legendary venue, attracting movie director Quentin Tarantino and the likes to host their private parties there.
Located in the midst of an urban redevelopment area Bar 25 had to close in 2010 to make way for the construction of exclusive penthouse apartments overlooking the river Spree. Quickly resistance to the dense and lifeless development of the riverbank organized itself, having its temporary peak in 2008 when 87% of the population of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg demanded a “Spree riverbank for all” in a citizen-intiated referendum.
Juval and his team aimed high and developed an alternative concept for the area: With the cooperative project for urban creativity Holzmarkt they managed to convince the Swiss pension fund Abendrot to provide the necessary funds to acquire the lot and in May 2013 the construction work officially kicked-off.
We are excited to hear more about Juval’s captivating story, about how he went all the way from running underground clubs to lobbying city councils, negotiating with real estate agents, pitching to investors and finally running a multi-million cooperative in Berlin’s most exciting urban area. At Lift14 he will speak in the session “counter culture inspiring industries".
Ein Mörchen wird wahr! - 1. Mai 2013 from Mörchenpark on Vimeo.
