Throughout the trip, I have been struck by the readability of significant 'layered' histories. This was certainly the case in Berlin, where we biked through a former Nazi-constructed airport turned public park, went through a tour of an air-raid bunker turned art gallery, and ate lunch at Gleisdreieck Park, which showcased the post-industrial present/future of the city of Berlin. 

Attached is an image of Eduard Schnell's installation of a gigantic block of tuff- a type of soft limestone. Installed in 1998, a serious of four stones are continually covered in water, leading to their decomposition on a geologic time scale. The blocks don't appear to have changed at all since their installation, although they are now covered in a layer of dark green moss. 

Many of the layered aspects of this trip have related to sociocultural artifacts related to the constructed environment. However, this piece stands in contrast to those examples and brings attention to potentially more profound former realities. It is a stark example, to be sure, but sometimes that is what is necessary in order to get a point across. In retrospect, there were certainly geologic time scale layers found in some of our other sites (Bad Muskau's mines, for example) but for me, it didn't make the same impression on me as this piece. I think the simplicity of the blocks- identical in form to the courtyards and buildings that surround them, is what made the difference.