Same but Different: The Floating University Berlin (FUB) and the Making of Another University

Adaptive reuse of an operating urban infrastructure: a conversation with raumlabor about the Floating University Berlin

“…An element of the city that, precisely for the sake of exactness of its functioning, had disappeared from the urban landscape, giving rise to an urban subtraction , an untraceable and still impenetrable area. Part of the infrastructural networks that “have been relegated to the engineers and the software designers” (Frichot et al ., 2022, p. 12), its existence was unknown even to local residents (see Elarji and Michels, 2021). The FUB detention basin was ‘just’ a piece of that forbidden territory that either runs and lives underground or, when above ground, is simply barred and on the fringe of the available geography.…”

“…FUB is a place of openness. Despite being in close proximity to the Kreuzberg district in the heart of Berlin, it is an offshore campus that creates another world (Elarji and Michels, 2021). It is imbued with a sense of mystery and wonder ( Ibid ) that helps visitors to unleash their imagination about what urban life, with its intricate infrastructure complex, actually is.…”