Berlin, a youthful city with a haunted past. Being one of the most populated cities in Europe as well as the home to the most refugees and migrants in Europe, Berlin is constantly cut through by people seeking new lives in the state or one of the 9 bordering it. This ability to move freely, however, was not always possible in Germany. In fact, this was a lot more recent than the younger population realized.

Only 33 years ago East and West Germany were separated by a 12 foot tall wall that spanned 96 miles dividing the democratic Western world from the communist Eastern Germany. However, something else that some people don’t realize is that the Berlin wall was actually two separate walls, creating what would be called the “dead zone” or “no man’s land” in between them.

Although highly militarized and guarded, this “no man’s land” did not belong to either East or West Germany. Despite being in between two of the most well known physical standing borders the world has ever seen, this middle zone almost became borderless. It didn’t belong to anybody.

For my project, I wanted to try and take a twist on this idea of no man’s land, and being borderless, putting it to something good. I wanted to take this idea and put it towards something that could help not only incoming migrants, but the diverse community that it resides in.

I wanted to create a space that pushes what it means to be “borderless,” whether that is physically or spiritually. We have so many things that could divide us from interacting with each other. Money, language barriers, location; but once people are put in a space together, that celebrates all stories, all walks of life, and all cultures, we all become a little closer.