Amid Threats, BMW Guggenheim Lab Withdraws Plan for Installation in Berlin Neighborhood The BMW Guggenheim Lab, a touring think tank of sorts that stopped on New York's Lower East Side last summer, is devoted to exploring issues of future cities. But in Berlin, the project has run up against an issue very much of the present: gentrification. Militant opposition to Gentrifizierung, as it is called in Berlin, has prompted organizers of the lab, which takes the physical form of a carbon fiber structure designed by the Japanese architectural firm Atelier Bow-Wow, to suspend its original installation plan. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, which administers the project, announced earlier this week that the lab structure would not be installed on a lot in the Kreuzberg district, where it was scheduled to open May 24. Gentrification might seem like a critical topic for a forum on cities" futures to tackle, but a "small minority" of opponents to the lab, according to the foundation, does not agree with that assessment. "In response to police and local authorities" high hazard assessment, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has decided to withdraw the BMW Guggenheim Lab from the site planned in Kreuzberg, Berlin," the foundation said in a statement. This decision follows threats against the project. The foundation regrets having to make this decision, as the purpose of the BMW Guggenheim Lab is to create a space for public discussion, open to the widest possible range of views. While we welcome vigorous debate, we cannot risk the possibility of violence, as raised by a small minority. Der Tagesspiegel, a local newspaper, reported that threats against the proposed building had been made on the Internet. A blog was started specifically to oppose the project. A community meeting convened by the foundation to explain the objectives of the lab was interrupted by angry opponents. Anti-gentrification advocates in Berlin previously opposed the development of large commercial sites and American fast-food chains. A local McDonald's outlet and Subway sandwich shop were vandalized. Luxury apartments have also been aimed at, according to local news reports. Kreuzberg is long proud of its status as a rough-and-tumble area that welcomes struggling artists and new immigrants. Located in the eastern part of the city, the district holds a May Day street festival that has been known to edge over into violence. Its local mayor is a member of the Green Party and opposes recent rent hikes that many residents attribute to rising property values in the area, a function of luxury condominiums, hotels and other projects under development. Berlin's mayor, meanwhile, has been a supporter of the Guggenheim Lab. "We look forward to welcoming the BMW Guggenheim Lab to Berlin next year," Klaus Wowereit said when plans were announced last year. This week, he said the city "should roll out the red carpet" for the lab. Google Streets views of the lab's lot, at the corner of Cuvrystrasse and Schlesische Strasse by the River Spree, show a fenced-in area where the walls of adjacent buildings are covered in street art. Initially, the pavilion had been set for installation in the Pfefferberg complex in the Prenzlauer Berg area, which may be reconsidered, according to Der Tagesspiegel.