Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Construction without consensus

Certainly everyone in Stuttgart and most people who read the news in Germany is aware of the controversy around the plans to bury the train station in the city.



The documentary film maker Gary Hustwit highlighted the problems in Urbanized (2011). In the part about Stuttgart 21 the main arguments for and against the project are brought to light. At the end of this section there is some footage about the major protest from September 30, 2010, which shocked not only the citizens of this rich and peaceful city but also people around the globe. How did it come to this?


The project has torn up our city, divided our friends into two camps and is threatening to send fissures through our walls as tunnels are dug through town. When the drill starts turning 50' under my house, I'll let you know if I can feel it.


In my exhibition of 33 photographs at the Carl-Schurz-Haus in Freiburg, you can see from now until Sept. 11, 2013, what I observed as I walked through town these past five years.