Above stands Juppi, one ofthe founders of UFA, in front ofthe Fabrik offices. The entry behind him spor,ts a newly installed thatch portico. It's one ofhundreds of large and small modifications made to the ugly, '50s-style industrial Bauhaus buildings the collective found on the site upon arrival. Even bad structures can become good ones with enough effort. Below right, the logo of UFA 's NUSZ, or Neighborhood Self-help Center. On the Opposite page, a rendering ofthe popuiar Backerei, or bakery, at UFA, one of the first in Berlin to produce whole-grain breads in modern times. Adjacent is the UFA organic foods store, Bio-laden. Both are strongly connected to local farmers. UFA members hope to gain.the experience needed to make greywater recycling a reality in their community in the coming years. Most UFA buildings are representative of industrial architecture and urban design of the 1950s: flat roofed, topped with tat paper, and surrounded by pavement. As such, the grounds generated uncomfortably high temperature swings in the summer, and lots of dry air and dust. So members began a building greening program in the 1980s. So far about 8,000 out of 24,000 square feet of roof surfaces are already green, as well as 2,000 square feet of grou~d and fa\:ade surface area. The added vegetation has noticePage 12 RAIN Summer 1994 Volume XIV, Number 4 ably improved the local microclimate, modifying both the humidity and temperature. It has also reduced the levels of noise and dust, improved insulation, and created new habitat for plants, birds and ins~cts. In addition, the green roofs and fa9ades help to retain and fiJter rain w~ter before it gets to the cistern. At UFA Fabrik's recycling station, separated wastes are either processed or sent to be recycled elsewhere. Organic wastes coming from the cafe and the children's farm animals are now sent to "fast composters" (Aust1ian handrolled drums) that reduce the composting time from six months to two. Part of the UFA Fabrik's food wastes are fed · to the farm animals, and the compost is used in the community as much as po~sible. Out of the yearly generated 1000m3 of various wastes, about 150m3 can be composted and reused. Through a combination of programs, the total waste volume is expected to be reduced by up to 40%. In connection with the ecological renewal program, an exhibition, including a detailed site model, drawings and diagrams, is housed in a small, greened building. This is . only one of many public education programs at UFA. Several projects, including some that had been with the commune from the beginning, came together in 1987 to I form the NUSZ, a Neighborhood Self-help Center. Some NUSZ projects, such as pre- and post-natal workshops, and the children's farm, now receive a.bit of financial support from the Berlin Senate. Central to the work of NUSZ is making space available for social and preve.nt~tive h'ealth ·programs, such as meditation, martial arts, and socially healthy festivities bringing together people of different ages · and cultural backgrounds. The NUSZ is founded on the idea of self-help, or personal and social change through self-initiative. While our society gives us a lot of free and leisure time, it steadily eats away at our free space, our freedom to consider alternatives, and our confid~nce to think and act creatively. There's a German motto that captures NUSZ and other UFA Fabrik activities: Bist du heute nicht mobil, wirst du morgen zum Fossil [if today you're not active, then tomorrow you'll be a fossil]. Children also need this liberation. At UFA' s Children' s Farm, kids care for horses, pigs, and chickens, work in the garden, play, cook and eat together, and just hang out. They also train and perform over in the children's circus school, catching the thrill of the stage. UFA's Berlin Free School still needs official recognition, yet some 40 kids (including UFA children) from 1st through 6th grades, learn according to their needs, with no anxiety over scores or pressure
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