Leftovers, Left Over
This charming fence, located at the office complex adjacent to the Finanzamt Pankow/Weißensee, was apparently made from some scraps of piping and steel profile left over from a larger construction contract.
Although it sparkles with a fresh coat of white paint, its age is clearly betrayed by the self-apparent technique of its fabrication -certainly done under the duress of the oppressive conditions that made the totalitarian regime of the DDR so infamous. And that’s the thing. Limited by meager supply lines, financially up against a wall, there was cause to make the most of little, of a pile of drops from a steel mill. It seems that the team had fun welding them all together, and they did a really, really nice job.
Miraculously, the fence was kept after the complex of typical DDR slabs was pepped up a couple of years ago with new siding and strips of secondary or unsaturated colors. I doubt the reason for that is due to an enlightened aesthetic consciousness so much as the fact that, relatively speaking, this town is still broke-ass.
Oliver, thanks for making our 250th article such a corker! Let’s raise our glasses to the next quarter-G.
While the romantic version of empoverished builders creating masterpieces out of scrap, because of shortage of bulding materials, is quite appealing, I tend tho think that the cheaper way of creating the fence would have been to just not cut the vertical bars that run its whole length. ;)
kind of similar:
http://www.bustler.net/index.php/article/squatcity-urbaninform_competition_announces_winners/
it kind of disturbes me that when i look at this… despite my eyes gently wandering over/ thru that DDR leftover steel pipe art work fence thing… i always end up staring at that 45° turned mercedes benz star …