Hardt-Waltherr Hämer

Watch the second BDA portrait of Hardt-Waltherr Hämer in full length. On the initiative of architect Carola Schäfers, writer Erika Mühlthaler and filmmaker Fred Plassmann interviewed 17 Berlin architects and city planners from March 2011 until Januar 2017 as part of an extensive engagement with the 100 year old history of the BDA (Association of German Architects) Berlin.
Hardt-Waltherr Hämer (1922-2012) was called the „father of cautious urban planning“. With his strong and often provocative attitude Hämer early addressed issues of gentrification and engaged very strongly in a careful restoration process in Berlin, which saved many areas from a modernist eradication.

Mühlthaler and Plassmann had the chance to interview Hämer shortly before his death in one of his earliest works, the Schifferkirche in Ahrenshoop. Hämer talks about his notion of ‚cautious‘, his life’s journey and his relation with the BDA Berlin.