Post office ZZ
Forum for German Unity
PROJECT
Transformer · Transformation of three Transformer Houses in Halle’s City Center
Collaboration with Ricarda Schultze
SUPERVISION
Professor Andree Weißert · Research Associate Jannis Block
Period
Winter semester 2025/2026
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The Post office ZZ (PZZ) positions itself as a gesture of welcome for the planned Future Center* (Zukunftszentrum/ ZZ) in Halle (Saale). It opens up a space within the city for dialogue around its central theme: German reunification. A place is being created that provides a space for discourse on social transformations. It does not negate what was, but opens itself up and invites people to encounter themselves and others with their own experiences.
* The so-called “Future Center” is to conduct research on the topics of “German unity” and “European transformation.” Concrete approaches or research ideas have not yet been defined and are to be submitted by the general public. Our design addresses this newly created interface.
01. Existing ornamentation reproduced with glass tiles: New window openings, while historical traces remain visible.
02. Recycling of removed inventory bricks as brick terrazzo: Central seating element as an analogy to the “East German Round Table”.
03. United together: Walls made of new and existing bricks, as well as glass bricks as work and exhibition surfaces, and a wardrobe.
04. Roof beams made of pine: The pine tree references the transformation of the once treeless inner-German border into the “Green Belt”.
Based on interviews with contemporary witnesses of the reunification period, an interior space was created that can be used for various purposes such as 1. exhibitions, 2. film screenings, and 3. discussion formats, focusing on people and their emotions rather than purely on research:
