The Cycle: Berlin | Berlin, Germany | Unit 21 | 2025

The Cycle is a conceptual laundrette that offers a light-filled, communal space for washing clothes and strengthening local ties. It is located in what was once the ‘death strip’, the space between the inner and outer walls of the Berlin Wall. The site’s complex history was central to the design approach, with the building’s form and layout derived from historical speech recordings of Berliners. The project aims to capture the emotional imprint left on Berlin and its people, reflecting on how collective memory shapes both the physical and cultural identity of a place. The Cycle offers an immersive architectural experience: one that is quite literally constructed from the voices of Berliners, giving form to memory, dialogue, and shared history.

Site Introduction The project is located in Berlin on a site formerly divided by the Berlin Wall. The design responds to this historic context through forms that reflect fragmentation and reconnection.

Iterative Process Scripting outcomes from Grasshopper using Physarealm plug-in. Physarealm plugin uses points generated form speech as a bounding box and nodes to tie curves to, creating amazing complex figures that hold much potential for further design development.

Main Area

Final Renders Main area (washing and drying) and cafe space (bespoke furniture generated from speech).

Final Film