As part of the Alster-Elbe green corridor, a former recycling centre on the River Bille has become an experimental site for urban development. Civil society initiatives, local actors and municipal authorities are cooperating to develop a different form of park. The aim of the “Micromappings” course was to examine processes of expropriation and appropriation on-site and to interpret them in their temporal, spatial, social and material contexts using cartographic methods.

The structure of the seminar: kick-off – colloquium – camp week – review focused on forms of un/learning and was characterised by the cooperation of students from various study programs such as architecture, urban planning, urban design and the culture of the metropolis. The participants discussed situation-specific methods together, applied them and thus also questioned familiar ways of thinking and working. Site exploration during the camp week began with 1:1 mapping using spray chalk, adhesive tape and notes and led to the students formulating their own assignments. This was followed by explorations of the surroundings in alternating group constellations, zoom mappings of accessibility and affiliations, as well as discussions with local actors. Using transscalar mappings, the cartographic results were ultimately presented as installations on the grounds of the recycling centre.