Posted by Elisa Sacchi - 10 September, 2018
People, the spaces they live in and the stories that unfold and develop there are intrinsically linked. This is exactly what happened in Berlin between 1961 and 1989. The complexity and fragmentation that the Wall – an architectural element in itself – brought to the city’s society and its cultural heritage are the subject of Unbuilding Walls, the exhibition at the German Pavilion at Venice’s Biennale Architettura, running until 25 November 2018.
The project
The reason for this project stems from a very special anniversary taking place this year. In fact, the Wall has now been gone for longer than it existed. The purpose of the exhibition, created by Berlin architectural firm Graft, in collaboration with Marianne Birthler, former Federal Commissioner for the documents left by the former GDR’s state security service, is to reflect on what happened in this unprecedented void in the middle of a new capital and showcase outstanding examples of urban design that address aspects of division and integration.
While architecture alone can’t remove walls in society, it undoubtedly plays a crucial role in shaping the way we think, interact and live together. To express this concept, the architects created a very high, compact black wall, which at first sight seems to be impenetrable. But the closer you get, the more the structure appears modular and open for the visitor to explore. Each panel is a dense black on the front, while the other side is covered with colorful images and information about the buildings that have filled the gap left by the Wall over the last 28 years. The panels also project their black shadows on the floor, creating linear continuity.
MasterTop: the right flooring and wall solutions for the desired effect
While storytelling is one of the best tools in an architect’s toolkit during the design process, MasterTop is undeniably the perfect solution to bring the most creative ideas to life, as demonstrated by the Unbuilding Walls project, in which the materiality, structure, form and details became the vehicles to transfer the message and make the whole visitors’ experience unique. Panels and floor had to be visually indistinguishable to recreate the effect of a wall growing spontaneously out of the ground – a perfect, seamless effect that only MasterTop flooring and wall solutions could have guaranteed. In addition to the aesthetic result, MasterTop ensured impact-noise reduction and easy-cleanability properties, both crucial aspects to provide the best conditions in which to experience the exhibition. In addition, the project was realized in a very short timeframe, as highlighted by Stephan Siegle, Head of Marketing, Master Builders Solutions Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “There were a number of challenges, primarily with regard to time: project planning, manufacture of the material in the desired color and delivery to Venice – and, of course, fast and flawless installation on site, but all this was successfully accomplished!”
Further information on this project can be found at: www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2018 and on the MasterTop product range at: https://purefloor-design.master-builders-solutions.com/
