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Narrative Landscapes: Conversations of the Past and Future through Design

Across the globe, abandoned sites sit, deemed no longer advantageous. Amidst several state-led efforts to revitalize abandoned sites, this thesis explores the distinct opportunities that exist for Field Station Berlin, an abandoned US NSA surveillance zone constructed in West Berlin during the Cold War. Built atop Teufelsberg, the prominent of Berlin’s Trümmerbergs, today the former field station serves as a venue for everything, from community activities to artist installations. Given this turbulent history, this thesis asks: how can design offer a unique means of site intervention capable of capturing the complexity of existing place meanings, while still supporting reactivation by contemporary society? This thesis first investigates several reclaimed sites across Berlin and creates a catalog of Counterpreservation that chronicling design approaches for re-activation. It then introduces the design potentials of Teufelsberg. Moving beyond, this thesis seeks to discover methods for reclaiming the memories of other wastelands, or Brachen of Berlin.