Bauwerk T

Image

Format

jpg

License

Creative Commons Licence

Creator(s)

Contributors

Contributed date

November 13, 2018 - 3:26pm

Critical Commentary

  • Decay
  • Fragment
  • Fungus ("Pilz")
  • Guilt
  • Heaviness
  • Naziism
  • Megalomania
  • Pit
  • Trauma
  • Waste

The public discussion around the “heavy load-bearing cylinder” framed the object as a toxic subject for Germany’s cultural memory due to its origin in the Nazi era—and many voices demand its erasure rather than its preservation. I want to challenge this one-dimensional reading by framing the structure as object that transcends the binary of Germaness/Naziism that drives the public condemnation by reframing it as an ‘inconvenient’ memorial that opens a space of deep insights into what it means to be (in-)human. At the core of my argument is the assumption that culture and barbarity are closely intertwined and cannot be separated. Consider this: the Nazis built “heavy load-bearing cylinder” was built an engineering measure to test how weight Berlin’s soil can take. Based on the data collected at the site, the regime planned to erect a gigantic triumphal arch nearby, an architectural statement that articulated their goal of world domination in an ancient Roman imperial aesthetic. Despite this anti-modern cause, the data collected at the site was highly influential in shaping the norms we still use for building high-rises and other heavy buildings until today. As inconvenient as it is, I have to argue that the structure is as much a monument for Nazi barbarity as it is a monument for German technological expertise. In fact, I do not think we can separate Germaness/Naziism, as inconvenient as it sounds—we need to get to terms with that. This photograph of the gaping hole was taken during the construction of the drum and symbolically stands for the abyss, or “Bodenlosigkeit” (groundlessness) of memory that we have to dive into to grapple with it.

Source

Projektarchiv Deutsche Gesellschaft für Bodenmechanik. Contributed by Michael Richter, Berliner Unterwelten e.V.

Location

Heavy Load-Bearing Body
General-Pape-Straße 34A
Berlin, BE
12101
Germany

Cite as

Urban Humanist, "Bauwerk T", contributed by Paul Kurek, Center for Ethnography, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 5 December 2018, accessed 29 March 2024. http://www.centerforethnography.org/content/bauwerk-t