On the invitation of the International Real Estate Development Summit MOVE, Thomas Willemeit will speak about how urban environments benefit from contemporary mobility concepts and mixed-use intelligence.
The MOVE summit, with attendees from all over Central Asia, takes place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from February 11 to 12, 2026.
More info: move.forum
Together with Wiegerinck (DE/NL), SLA Landscape Architects (DK/NOR), Ingenieurbüro Dr. Binnewies, and Ingenieurbüro T. Wackermann (both Hamburg), we have formed an international team with outstanding expertise in hospital construction.
We are proud and happy to have received special recognition in the competition for the new hospital of the BG Kliniken in Hamburg.
More information: graftlab.com/en/projects/bg-hospital-hamburg
Plans for a 40,000-square-meter district on the edge of Dresden's old town are moving forward: media group Bertelsmann is planning a new urban quarter on the site surrounding the historic Haus der Presse building.
In close coordination with the city of Dresden, the Office for Urban Planning and Mobility, and the State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments, the real estate company Robert C. Spies and GRAFT have developed a sophisticated urban development concept based on multi-stage planning preparations. The City of Dresden's Design Commission closely monitored the process. With the resolution to adopt the development plan, which was passed on January 14, 2026, the project has reached a key milestone.
A total of four building complexes with a combined gross floor area of around 78,000 square metres are set to be constructed on the Ostra-Allee site. The ensemble is intended for various uses, including apartments, office space, hotels, culture, and leisure.
The Haus der Presse, an ensemble of East Modernist buildings that has shaped the area since the 1960s, and the significant green space towards the theatre workshops on Ostra-Allee will remain as essential elements of the district. A newly designed neighbourhood square and a tree-lined pedestrian route will structure the area and open up new views, connecting several landmarks of the inner city.
Active ground floor zones, public spaces with a high quality of life, and underground access for stationary traffic create a lively neighborhood that blends naturally into the existing urban structure.
GRAFT founding partner Thomas Willemeit visits the concrete works for our villa project in Casablanca, Morokko.
Learn more about this project on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean:
Villa H
GRAFT partner Georg Schmidthals as a jury member at the Brillux Design Award ceremony.
Get to know the award winners: brillux.de
PLENBA is the new platform for anyone who wants to rethink construction, development, and planning.
The conference will take place on November 13 & 14, 2025, at Cafe Moskau in Berlin. GRAFT partner and CEO Wolfram Putz will speak about the "Bauwende" and innovations in serial construction.
The "EDGE Friedrichspark" construction project in Berlin-Friedrichshain has reached another milestone. The striking green facade elements are currently being installed, while the building shell has now reached its full height. The project on the site of the former Wriezen train station clearly demonstrates how the area is gradually being transformed into a new office and commercial location: edge.tech/portfolio/friedrichspark
At the groundbreaking ceremony for the model block at Külzberg in Wittenberge on November 6, 2025, the project was presented to the public and the funding agreement with the State of Brandenburg was signed.
With this model block, GRAFT is redesigning a prefabricated building from the 1960s, transforming the existing small floor plans into new, flexible apartment layouts and types that address current issues such as demographic change. The goal is to offer needs-based housing at affordable prices.
The overall project also emphasizes the community aspect with improved amenities: a large roof terrace and a neighborhood meeting place on the ground floor are available for all residents to use and connect the interior spaces with the spacious outdoor area.
The project includes apartments with 2 to 5 rooms, accessible either without thresholds or barrier-free. In addition, modern two-story maisonette apartments with private gardens are being built on the lower floors.
Currently, the dismantling work is underway in the apartments, removing non-load-bearing walls, floors, and sanitary facilities.
Photo from left to right: Mayor Dr. Hermann, developer/cooperative board member Mr. Elverich, Minister in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Planning of the State of Brandenburg Mr. Tabbert, Caroline Lossack (Graft), Thomas Willemeit (Graft), Daniel Finck (Graft GP), Elbstrom Housing Cooperative
Further information:
www.wittenberge.de
Berliner Tagesspiegel, October 29, 2025, excerpts:
"The idea of the 2035 World Expo in Berlin is taking shape – both figuratively and literally: The circle of supporters is growing, and key aspects of the concept have now been established. For the first time, the planners are presenting images.
(...) To achieve these milestones, the Global Goals Berlin association, led by IT entrepreneur and former Chamber of Commerce president Daniel-Jan Girl, has professionalized its organizational structures in recent months. Girl is currently soliciting seed capital from a total of ten private companies and chambers of commerce to establish the operating company, Expo 2035 Berlin GmbH, on a solid footing: €2.5 million in capital is to be raised by the end of the year. The Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK Berlin) is confirmed as the first shareholder, having contributed €250,000.
(...) As a result, Girl can now present more tangible, or rather: visible, results! Together with partners from two renowned architecture firms, he has translated ideas for the Expo project, which began a few years ago with his guest article in the Tagesspiegel newspaper, into computer-generated images. The Tagesspiegel is permitted to publish these illustrations here for the first time.
The creators recognize the risk that viewers might read too much or too little into these visualizations and therefore clarify at length: An Expo in Berlin could indeed look like this in 2035. But it could also look completely different. These are "only" designs to illustrate the topic, which might otherwise remain too abstract.
(...) In a conversation at the Expo office, Christian Tschersich, partner at the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA), and Thomas Willemeit, co-founder of the internationally renowned firm GRAFT, make it clear that they do not expect to automatically win tenders for the construction of central Expo pavilions should Berlin receive a successful evaluation. However, it also becomes clear that they could implement something. The LAVA team also designed, among other things, the German Pavilion at the Expo in Dubai (starting in 2020) and the Expo in Osaka, Japan, which closed in mid-October. They were currently working in Japan on a solution for dismantling, transporting, and reassembling the building – possibly in Berlin. A Subsequent use as a school or daycare center is conceivable."
Expo 2035 is also featured on Entwicklungsstadt.de:
https://entwicklungsstadt.de/eine-stadt-als-ausstellung-so-koennte-die-expo-2035-in-berlin-aussehen
Contradictions are not the city's problem,
they are its quality!
Four walls and a roof to live under – living space is the fundamental task of architecture. But how do we shape the future of this building task? What developments influence the structure of neighborhoods? What will the cities of the future feel like?
For the 80th anniversary edition of the Berliner Tagesspiegel, the GRAFT founders Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz and Thomas Willemeit wrote an essay about the future of living. This future will only become a positive place when we understand that it stems from the present and our actions today. Therefore, when we think of the homes of the future, we are not merely asking an architectural question; we are reflecting on our attitude toward living together and our vision of a vibrant city.
This text was first published on the 28. September 2025 in the German Newspaper Tagesspiegel Berlin: tagesspiegel.de
