Unbuilding Walls - German Pavilion 2018 Venice Biennale
BackProject type
Exhibition
Status
Completed
Location
Venice, Italy
Time
2017–2018
Awards
Best of the Year Award 2018, Unbuilding Walls, Exhibition & Installation, Finalist
For 28 years, Germany had been united – exactly as long as the Berlin Wall existed (1961–1989). On the occasion of this parallel, GRAFT and Marianne Birthler curated the exhibition “Unbuilding Walls” at the German Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice.
Thomas Willemeit, Wolfram Putz and Lars Krückeberg, the founders of GRAFT, along with Marianne Birthler, the former Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records, were selected by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community as part of an open competition process, on the recommendation of the selection committee.
The exhibition responded to current debates on nations, protectionism and division. In the German Pavilion, GRAFT and Marianne Birthler took the opportunity to explore the effects of division and the process of healing as a dynamic spatial phenomenon. With reference to “Freespace,” the central theme of the Architecture Biennale proposed by Grafton Architects, special focus was given to outstanding examples of urban and architectural design that address aspects of division and integration.
By analyzing architectural projects on the former border strip, the question of what happened on this unprecedented void in the middle of a new capital was examined. The heterogeneity of the multitude of approaches, typologies, protagonists, and results show the breadth of architectural debates and solutions.
Taking the experience of the inner-German Wall as a starting point, the exhibition also examined historical as well as current barriers, fences and walls beyond Germany’s specific national perspective. In the course of the preparations for Unbuilding Walls a journalist team travelled to border walls around the world. This work was shown at the German Pavilion as well.
The Wall of Opinions video installation documented the voices of people who live in the shadow of walls in Cyprus, Northern Ireland, between Israel and Palestine, the USA and Mexico, North and South Korea and at the European external border in Ceuta.
On behalf of
Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community
Curators
Marianne Birthler, Lars Krückeberg, Wolfram Putz, and Thomas Willemeit
Project management
Nora Zerelli
Production management
Felix Torkar
Project assistants
Marta Busnelli, Julia Dorn, Oliver Gudzowski, Laura Harnisch, Ameli Klein, Verena Otto
Design Team
Marvin Bratke, Raluca Ana Maria Constantin, Alexander Liu Cheng, Moritz Hanshans, Christopher Nielsen, Marta Piaseczynska, Laurent Thill
Graphic design and exhibition design
Video Installation Wall of Opinions
Regie: Maria Seifert / Kamera: Helge Renner
Public relations
A B C Ana Berlin Communications: Ana Berlin, Gesa Valentini, Vanessa Lindenau, Franziska Laski
Exhibition realization
Alexander Lubic, cfk architetti: Clemens F. Kusch and Martin Weigert
Eventmanager in Venice
solmarino, Tomas Ewald
Professional support
Gabriele Kautz, BMI Anne Keßler, BMI Olaf Asendorf, BBSR
Exhibition photos
Jan Bitter, Felix Torkar
Catalog photos
Max Schmieding, PROXI.ME
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