25th anniversary: The Fall of The Berlin Wall

project start: August 13th 2014, Bernauerstrasse 4,Berlin 
Anna Heringer and Martin Rauch 

Built in a participatory process this rammed earth installation at the Berlin Wall will be made of local soil from the former death zone, which stores the wounds of a society in form of splitters from the destroyed buildings, invites to reflect on vulnerablitity and its meaning to society and nature. 
In discussions on sustainability often the decay of buildings is neglected. We want to promote a way of constructing, that does not leave a desert, or death zone behind, but a fertile land - a basis for peace. History has proved that buildings can inflict pain on society. This project will be built with the public together with people that have been physically or psychically wounded, in order to enable through a creative work processes the building of solidarity, individual and mutual trust. 

The project is archaic: a simple circle, as symbol of the eternal cycles of life and death. The  low and narrow entrance is located one meter under the control-line level to evoke the memory of the escapes through tunnels under the wall. With the material`s sensuality and warm character the space inside instills a feeling of security, but also the endeavor for freedom through the wide opening to the sky.On the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall, the rye of the former death zone together with rye from fields along the Iron Curtain, will be baked to a symbolic peace bread. Our sculpture will incorporate an oven and define an atmospheric space for this action, where delegations from eleven countries will participate.