Metaxy : Between Destruction and Reconstruction

Wars, conflicts and the consequences of the climate crisis are destroying houses, cities and landscapes across the globe. Millions of people are losing their homes. Rebuilding these living environments is therefore an urgent task. However, if reconstruction is reduced to a technical undertaking – as a return to normality, a supposed "zero hour" or an opportunity for capital-driven investment – we lose sight of the fact that it is not only buildings and cities that are destroyed but also social relationships, ecological structures, shared ways of life and historical contexts. The crucial questions regarding reconstruction therefore arise before any building work begins. The project "Metaxy : Between Destruction and Reconstruction" – a cooperation between the Akademie der Künste and ARCH+ – begins precisely at this point, with an exhibition and a four-part programme of events. Metaxy, an ancient Greek word meaning "between", refers to a space in which the past and the future, memory and new beginnings, as well as loss and hope, coexist. Reconstruction does not mean a return to a previous state but rather the uncovering of connections that have been torn apart. Taking the Akademie building on Hanseatenweg as a prime example of post-1945 reconstruction, the exhibition presents an exploration of the colonial and Nazi history of Berlin's Hansaviertel district and perspectives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Palestine, Poland, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen and the USA. The exhibition architecture itself is the project's largest exhibit: it superimposes the site's former buildings onto today's exhibition halls. This 1:1-scale palimpsest makes the history of the site tangible through the in-between space. An event space forming part of the exhibition provides a venue for discussions, talks and artistic and musical performances. A participatory educational programme featuring guided tours and lecture-performance walks, as well as a special issue of the magazine _ARCH+_, explores the exhibition's themes in greater depth. Participating artists and spatial practitioners: Hala Alnaji, Archigrest, Marina Tabassum Architects, Maja Bajević, Centre for Documentary Architecture, Kees Christiaanse, Tiffany Chung, Co-Haty, Salma Samar Damluji, Nir Evron, Ola Hassanain, Paul Hübner, Open Group, Anton Kolomieitsev, Omer Krieger, V. Mitch McEwen, megouem, Kioomars Musayyebi, Marina Naprushkina, Ute Richter, Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Immanuel Schuhmacher, Arinjoy Sen, Nurit Stark, Syrbanism, topoScape, Feda Wardak, Eyal Weizman, Ines Weizman, Julita Wójcik, Lebbeus Woods, Ina Wudtke