
The exhibition Radio-Activities by Alfredo Thiermann (an architect and professor of the history and theory of architecture at the École polytechnique fédérale in Lausanne) showcases the built infrastructure for radio in Berlin, from the Weimar Republic to the Cold War era. Through the presentation of sounds, archival drawings, and cartographic representations, it offers a unique perspective on the interplay between politics, electronic media, and architecture.
60 years after the Berlin Wall’s construction, the exhibition re-examines the coexistence of opposing political and aesthetic worldviews within the city. It highlights how radio waves crossed the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall, using different architectural means to conquer, protect, and compete over fluctuating borders. “Radio-Activities” reveals the material aspects of seemingly invisible infrastructures, questioning the stability of buildings and walls in the context of technology, politics, and mass media, and examining their relevance in our hyper-connected world.