The interior space directly beneath the jaunty caps of 19th century buildings in Berlin was intended as a climactic buffer zone for the apartments below – generally low and dark, it was not designed for inhabitation. In the 1980’s, government subsidies for the construction of homes spurred the conversion of many of these attics into dwellings. Thirty years later, renovations of Dachgeschoss conversions typically involve raising or removing the roof (within the limits of building regulations) in order to create taller spaces with large windows for better light and views.

The following example, an Altbau on the Mommsenstrasse in Charlottenburg, was built in 1898 and converted into a dwelling in 1981: the front wing was fully converted, the side wing partially converted, and the rear wing left structurally unchanged. During renovation, a light touch was applied throughout. (The apartment’s blingification still awaits!) While removing partitions and claddings installed during the original conversion, the focus remained on respecting the “poetics” inherent in this type of attic space – continuous yet varied, closely scaled to the upright human body, inward-looking, contemplative, quiet.