For Berlin-based artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, their gallery and headquarters was something of a drawn-out impulse buy. In early 2006 they happened to come across a real estate listing for a defunct water pumping station, a bit of real estate that had been languishing on the market for over a decade. The structure, an elegant brick square broken up by rows of thin windows, was under preservation order, but nobody knew what to do with its lofty main room—built for the hulking machinery that hummed there since the mid-1920s—and the four stories at the rear without a secondary exit. After nearly a decade without a buyer, preservationists loosened their grip over the architectural integrity of the building, allowing for more staircases and rooftop windows. Still, the place did not begin its long trek toward reuse until Elmgreen and Dragsat, drawn by the place's 15-meter (over 42 feet) ceilings and atelier potential, decided it was worth the rehab.
· Water Pumping Plant Renovation / Wenk und Wiese [Arch Daily via Architizer]
· All Conversions posts [Curbed National]
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