IMD _Institute of Media and Design
copyright _IMD
FIELD TRIP | Projekt 17/5001 Ein unerhörter Raum | Prenden
In April 2015, the IMD visited the Bunker 17/5001 in Prenden, which was during the 'cold war' the most complex military protection and rescue building within the so called 'Warschauer Pakt' area. His technology of cushioned steel boxes which are hanging on steel cables inside a massive concrete block, was able to withstand even an atomic bomb striking nearby, in a calculated distance of about 700 meters. But it's protection concept only functioned until the GPS (global positioning system) was invented, which allows to hit any target exactly. For a atomic bomb hit right in the center of the bunker, the structure wasn't strong enough.
This technological progress made the Bunker 17/5001 to a strange monument in military history, beeing absolutely senseless even a short time after it's completion.
Nowadays the main GDR atomic bunker (the so called 'Honecker Bunker') is totally locked, invisible and inaccessible, but nevertheless it's still there as a hidden underground event, shrouded in mystery. The bunker is located in a former military camp and buried under six meters of Brandenburger sand.
The IMD design project '17/5001-ein unerhörter Raum' is searching for dialectic and sophisticated strategies of re-opening an access to that remarkable an astonishing building.
Photography: Matthias Karch
Directed by: Philipp Reinfeld and Prof. Matthias Karch