The building Rigaer Straße 84 in Eastern Berlin was squatted in 1990 and was legalized through rent contracts in 1991.

In 1997, shortly after the first attempt to renovate the house, which could not happen due to resistence from the inhabitents, the roof of the entire corner (Rigaer Straße 84 and Proskauer Straße 10) burned. According to the reports from the fire investigators, the fire was intentional. In addition to the roof the 4th floor flats were damaged by fire and water. The other floors were minimally damaged. Both houses were closed for a while by the police. Shortly after the fire and failed renovation attempt, the house was sold to the current owners under dubious circumstances.

Another fire on the 28th April 2007 destroyed the living place for 48 people, a space for international guests, public cooking space, cinema, free space for politcal groups, concert space, and a bar.

Here´s the link to a short film by Val about this topic. As gentrification gathers pace, former residents of this housing project mourn the loss of their home:

You can find more infos about this house project and its history on http://squat.net/r84/R84_buttons.htm and on http://rigaer-strasse.blogspot.com/.