Tempelhofer Feld is so vast, you could build housing and it would still be a huge park.
Hardly anyone goes as far as to the southern strip, most people stay at the edges or bike through the center.
You could build housing there with little influence on the character of the park.
IMHO, especially housing on the southern strip would massively influence the character of the space.
If you ask people, what makes the space special, you will very often get the answer, that it is the space's openness and breadth.
This impression is especially created by the southern strip, as open space continues also beyond of it: first, the railway (Ringbahn), after that the city highway and after that relatively low-rise industrial buildings.
If you would build on the southern part, this view would be cut off much earlier.
IMHO, if one wants to build housing on the field while keeping its character, one needs to build on the south-west corner - kind of as a continuation of the terminal building - or in the north-east corner.
> You could build housing there with little influence on the character of the park.
Except that the value of any amount of housing there would skyrocket, be purchasable by only the richest expat assholes and Bayerischer trust fund kids, who would within five years get the police to enforce full Ruhezeit in the park because it's interfering with their startup's self-actualizing.
Hardly anyone goes as far as to the southern strip, most people stay at the edges or bike through the center. You could build housing there with little influence on the character of the park.