sport4minus.de

i found several places in berlin where nature and the city are approaching each other, sometimes nature dominates, sometimes the manmade structures. but in two places, it is not clear what is the stronger element. in these places the city has a nearly surreal face.

thie first place is the Europapark with the Velodrome and the SSE swimming bath. Google Maps Link the whole complex is built under the surface, so all you see when passing by is this:

on the “roof” apple trees are growing in a rasterized order.

rough idea: none. but the stairs would make a great projection surface for sure.

the other place is the nearby Blankenstein-Park . here, on the site of the former berlin slaughterhouse, a park has been created. the special part is the skeleton of an old cattle auction hall that was left standing and painted.

some of the trees and benches are situated in this building with no roof and no purpose anymore. here, the border between botanic and architectural elements vanish, the former hall leaves more of an organic impression, nature and architecture are merged.

rough idea: blur the border even more, give the structure organic behaviour and look. use the structure as a indicator for visualisation of data, maybe in connection to the history of the place

trees often have symbolic meanings.

in germany, many villages had so-called “gerichtslinden”, which were lime trees planted nearby the village, underneath which justice was administered.

in berlin, today there is no “gerichtslinde”, but until 1860, there was an court – “alcove” in the place where the “rotes rathaus” now stands.

in the middle of that building, which has been transferred to park babelsberg, one of the columns was designed to look like a lime tree.

rough idea: set up a “gerichtslinde” in front of the townhall.

another symbolic tree is the “freedom tree”, also a lime tree, which has been planted in front of the reichstag in berlin in 1990, as a symbol of the reunion of both germanies. the tree as a symbol of freedom was mainly used during the french revolution, decorated with banners.

rough idea: find the freedom tree and decorate it with some medial extension. potential topics could be: east-west conflict, unemployment.

for the project “minimal medial extension in a public space” i would like to do some work at the intersection of urban space and nature. this could happen in several places:

• in a forest near the city
• in a park
• in a lake
• at trees in the streets
• at plants inside of buildings

to name a few.

What i find interesting about the subject is that plants seem to be unimpressed by urban life, they dont get stressed and are never in a hurry. at least on the surface.

the other thing is that plants rest in the same place much longer than humans do (of course) so, if they would perceive their surroundings as we do and could talk, they had lots of interesting stories to tell.

the contrast between planned buildings and trees and plants in urban spaces is also very interesting: although the plants are mostly placed according to plans, their growth is still subject to own rules. not only is this wildness a relief for the inhabitants of a city which makes it a good place to be, but also reminds one of the fact that if mankind wasnt constantly struggling against nature, it would soon recapture the places made accessible by hard-working people.