Arriving at YAAM feels like stepping out of normal Berlin and into a multicultural autonomous zone that is organized by principles of community and cultural exchange. Analysis of the YAAM site and the relevant actors makes it clear that both the YAAM Cooperative and the physical site itself have a tense historic relationship with the local Municipality, built up over years of negotiation that have seen YAAM change location five times due to encroaching development pressure.
To secure permanence in its current location, YAAM will need to become more financially sustainable and more open to new visitors and users. There has always been a commercial component of YAAM, based on creative production and as a form of cultural exchange. We will focus on strengthening these existing forms of commercial activity at the site, as well as reintroducing the function of street sport which was central to the cultural mix earlier
incarnations of YAAM.
