Last April GRAFT was announced as Curators of the German Pavilion at the Architecture Biennale 2018. The exhibition, "Unbuilding Walls", focuses on the parallel of the Berlin Wall's lifespan and Germany's unity both being 28 years. 

The exhibition responds to current debates on nations, protectionism and division. In the German Pavilion, GRAFT and Marianne Birthler will take the parallel as an opportunity to explore the effects of division and the process of healing as a dynamic spatial phenomenon. With reference to “Freespace,” the central theme of the Architecture Biennale proposed by Grafton Architects, special focus will be given to outstanding examples of urban and architectural design that address aspects of division and integration.

An example project is the Axel-Springer-Campus. This former death strip between Kreuzburg and Mitte is the site of the new campus building for Axel Springer designed by OMA. The design by Rem Koolhaas traces the course of the Wall diagonally through the building as a void, creating an expansive interior atrium that symbolizes not just the division of Berlin, but also the growing together of the city.

Another example project is Checkpoint Charlie. This location was the third crossing point after Checkpoint Alpha and Checkpoint Bravo between the American and Soviet sectors. After the construction of the Wall and the tank confrontation shortly afterwards in October 1961, it became, alongside the Brandenburg Gate, the most symbolically potent image of the Cold War. A current competition initiated by the new owner of the site will elaborate a new vision for the location of Checkpoint Charlie in conjunction with the Senate. A Museum of the Cold War is planned that will be run by the State of Berlin.

The Iron Curtain Trial / Green Belt is also sited as an example project. The course of the former western border of the Warsaw Pact States is now the path of the Iron Curtain Trail cycle route. Stretching from the Barents Sea on the Norwegian-Russian border to the Black Sea on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, it runs for 10,000 kilometers through 20 countries, 15 of which are European Member States. A visible memory of the historical events had already been created in the form of the “Berlin Wall Trail”, which has been marked and made suitable for cycling.