Unbuilding Walls – Exhibition Catalog

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Project type

Publication

Time

2017–2018

Ob behalf of

Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community

Preface

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Publisher

Birkhäuser

Language

German / English

ISBN

978-3-0356-1613-2

Year

2017 - 2018

In 2018, Germany will be reunified for 28 years–exactly as long as the inner German border wall (1961–1989) existed. In the German Pavilion at the 2018 Architecture Biennale in Venice, GRAFT architects–Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz and Thomas Willemeit–together with the German politician Marianne Birthler take this parallel as an opportunity to explore the effects of division and the process of healing as a dynamic spatial phenomenon.

This accompanying publication examines prominent examples of urban and architectural design that have arisen along the course of the former border strip since the reunification and address aspects of division and integration. Special focus is given to the site of the former Berlin Wall. In a series of essays, renowned architects, urban planners and political commentators examine the urban and social manifestations and implications of these developments. The publication also responds to current debates on nations, protectionism and division. As the world grows together, walls are increasingly being discussed and built that divide people from one another.

With contributions by: Marianne Birthler, Axel Klausmeier, Michael Cramer, John Kornblum, Thomas Krüger, Michael Pilz, Scilla Elworthy, Wolfgang Tiefensee, Jochen Sandig, Hans Stimmann, Kristin Feireiss, Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz, Thomas Willemeit; and interviews with Daniel Libeskind and Bruno Flierl.