1 Sep - 30 Nov 2023

Liina Leo ( Estonia )

Der Bau (The Burrow)

In German, ‘Der Bau’, has the more general meaning of ‘construction’, ‘building’, alongside with English word ‘burrow’, ‘a hole or excavation made in the ground for a dwelling-place’. 

The project took an interest in the meanings of building and construction, while questioning the unbearable pleasure of safety, antagonism between freedom and security, that still dominates contemporary life and politics. For Nazi Germany, the concept of Lebensraum, the idea of perfect living space being protected from any external threats, became the extreme ideological principle. The project builds the bridge between the body and the building while questioning the habitation as a reflection of the state of anxiety. The myth of a labyrinth (as a symbol of rebirth) is central to the work, drawing attention rather to a journey with its blind spots and hidden passages.