Loss, Recuperation, and Identity


Woods/Aerial view, Berlin Free Zone project
 
The Berlin Free Zone project was executed by the American-born architect Lebbeus Woods in 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In this series of unrealized architectural drawings, Woods proposes the creation of a "freezone" providing the citizens of a reunited Berlin with a space for a radical alteration of their living conditions. An empty shell that is deserted because of its proximity to the Wall, the building appears as a ruin, torn to expose the underlying organic structures. By allowing for movement and nonhierarchical interaction, Woods's designs encourage the possibilities for a dynamic transformation of cities and society.

The Digital Design Lab at Columbia University has a project involving the 3-D visualization of Woods' works.