Architecture

28 Photos of an Abandoned NSA Spy Station — Teufelsberg Berlin


The orbs at the top of the station

I love abandoned places and Berlin has a LOT of them. Blogs like Abandoned Berlin are my favorite resource for abandoned site hunting, which I highly recommend.

One of the nicest sites I’ve visited while living in Berlin was the US NSA Field Station which was a huge “listening station” spying facility in the Cold Wars days. Its location is as important as its practical function, since its large space-age-like orbs sit on top of a man-made hill, 80 meters above the rest of Berlin. This made it a powerful psychological weapon as well, with Soviet forces constantly seeing the white orbs in the distance, knowing (or at least believing) they’re listening in on their every conversation and move.


The hill, Teufelsberg (devil’s hill), is man-made with the rubble from post-WWII Berlin. Apparently, a Nazi college that was being built at that site proved too difficult to demolish, so instead the allies decided to burry it under the millions of tons of rubble to prevent it from becoming a shrine for modern-day facists (same was done with places like Hitler’s Bunker, which today is just a parking spot walking distance from the Holocaust victims memorial).

Getting There

While on the way, I realized the trip there is half the fun. It’s inside the massive Grunewald forest, which like many of Berlin’s parks is massive and feels wild. You won’t find manicured flowerbeds and tended mazes here, just clear (and sometimes not-so-clear) foot and mountain bike paths that snake through the forest and up the Teufelsberg hill.

The way up (while a bit lost)

To be honest, I got a bit lost and Google Maps was being wonky because of the dense forests, so, I am not ashamed to admit I used PokemonGo since the only things it shows are the paths (even the walking paths) and the Teufelsberg field station had a handful of pokestops and gym I could navigate towards. Sadly, I just caught a couple of Weedles, but I’m not complaining, it got me un-lost and helped me guide a lost French dude who also had G-maps trouble. Plus, the half an hour I spent figuring out where I was proved to be the nicest part of my trek. I also came across GORGEOUS drangonflies, beetles and a couple cute wild rabbits on my way!

A bench with a view to rest your tired legs after getting lost

The Site

Once you get to the top, you follow a heavily patched-up fence with signs that point towards the “Eingang” (entrance). I wasn’t sure if it was accessible at this point, but when I saw these signs, I did like a good European and I followed them. The gates were open, a handful of German millennials were having beers and playing a card game. Entrance was 7 euros for a non-student and you could pick up a few beers from the fridge nearby if you didn’t get some with you.


The site felt more like an anarchist music festival venue, with weird, grungy, steampunk installations and murals everywhere with organic greenhouses and orchards littered between the dilapidated buildings and disused construction equipment. Lots of the art had a political message to it, especially with regards to the Cold War and the American presence there.

Plenty of gorgeous murals in and around the station

Inside the actual spy station, it feels more like a museum exhibit for street art, with hastily-erected walls with fresh murals on them dividing the large, high-cielinged floors and other visitors admiring and trying to decipher the meanings of each. What’s nice is that the floor-to-cieling windows are mostly gone and you get breathtaking views of Berlin in the distance on one side, and en expansive forest with a lake on the other.


Once you reach the top, you’re next to the two big bulbous globes, with the middle one a few floors higher. The views from up there are awesome, especially with the orbs (which are still largely intact somehow) inside your frames of the nearby lake and forests, or Berlin and its TV tower in the distance.

Panoramic view from the top

Worth the Visit

If you like urban exploration, but wouldn’t mind some nature too on your urbex forrays, then this is a must when you’re in Berlin. I know some people prefer breaking into a dirty place that doesn’t charge an entrance fee for a somewhat kept clean, safe and tidy space. But, hey, it’s better than falling into a manhole full of broken beer bottles and used needles. I didn’t mind paying the 7 euros, especially since you can get your own stuff with you and have a picnic or bbq or just a few beers there. Plus, with all the rich history, contemporary art and ruins, think of it as a more relaxed version of a museum where you’re allowed to drink beer and have a smoke.

More Photos























Details

Address: Teufelsseechaussee 10, 14193 Berlin

https://www.google.de/maps/place/The+Listening+Station/@52.4968576,13.2360558,16z/data=!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x45b97cd62e18d15!2sThe+Listening+Station!8m2!3d52.4975508!4d13.2403654!3m4!1s0x0:0x45b97cd62e18d15!8m2!3d52.4975508!4d13.2403654?hl=en

Recommended route: Take the S5/S75 to the Heerstrasse station and walk from there and pass by the Kletterturm Teufelsberg rock climbing area.

13 Photos of the Abandoned Araya-Chouit Train Station


Don’t you just hand-written Arabic signs?

I love this station because it’s still largely unknown and untouched. The other abandoned train stations, from the time when Lebanon still had public transport, are usually close to roads and highways. This means they’ve been vandalized and abused by people for decades, without an effort to protect or maintain them. Some people steal the steel railways that cost a fortune, others use the station as a public restroom or somewhere to keep cattle.


Fortunately, this station is nestled under a small road between the towns of Araya and Chouit, just above Jamhour and under Aley. This means that not a lot of people know it exists, which is awesome to go get a glimpse of what it must’ve been like there before.

Sadly, since my last visit, part of the main building has collapsed, and it seems someone stole the iconic clock that people would look at to see when the next train was due… But, it’s still gorgeous, and here are some photos I took.













I love abandoned places, and try to go there and snap some photos whenever I can. Follow me on Instagram for live coverage, cause it takes me a while to post them on here usually!

https://www.instagram.com/ginoraidy/

5 Shots We See Before Landing in Beirut



We all try getting a window seat on the flight from wherever your connection is back to Beirut. Specifically, the left side of the plane. There’s just something about zooming past the Beirut skyline that never gets old.

Most of the time, we are at the office, or in class, or at the beach, or dancing a night away as the jets come in above us for landing. Sometimes though, we’re on those planes and we try to take in as much of the scenery as we can, and I always wonder what everyone else is up to in those buildings and traffic on those streets.


Anyway, last time I was flying in to Beirut, I took these shots right before we landed. There was a bit of smog that day, so I edited the photos a bit so they look less apocalyptic nuclear fallout.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVSDkr_hwH_/?taken-by=ginoraidyhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BVSFtv1hMQy/?taken-by=ginoraidyhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BVSGEHpBuUQ/?taken-by=ginoraidyhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BVUNsuVhTVl/?taken-by=ginoraidyhttps://www.instagram.com/p/BVURD7sBAk4/?taken-by=ginoraidy

The Brand New Garten!


The Uberhaus crew released a couple of teaser pics for the brand new Garten just a stone’s throw away from its former location on the Beirut Waterfront.

Looks like the beloved dome has been transformed into a more angular, pyramidal-shaped structure.

This gorgeous beast is yet another addition to the list of iconic, immersive structures Uberhaus and The Garten have developed for us to dance in over the past 5 years.

Personally, I can’t wait to try this baby out tomorrow night!

I snapped a couple of pics on my way back from work today, but couldn’t go down. I wanna keep the surprise for tomorrow night!





What’s That Blue Tower Near Mathaf? An Automated Parking Tower

Parking in Beirut is an absolute nightmare. Anyone who lives, works or studies in the capital knows the horror of parking in the city. Whether it’s trying to park in gridlocked traffic, the park meters that are far and rarely ever work, the valet mafias that violently occupy any free parking spot, the empty towers that replace most parking lots, the violation of parking lots of the 3000LBP price and charging as much as 5000, 7000 and even 10000LBP… The list goes on and on.

Possible High-Tech Solutions?

There are several folks trying to do something about this. There’s a company called ABSC, that’s importing Korean-made, ferris-wheel like parking structures. I was first made aware of them when I saw one in a parking lot in Zouk Mikael. You park in the empty car compartment, then you select a 4-digit password. To hail your car when you wanna leave, you just punch in the 4-digit password again and your car will be ready to drive away in in 90 seconds.



Another company, SPCL, felt the Korean version of the automated parking structures was too expensive to make economic sense, so they decided to create their own right here in Lebanon.

This is that blue building you might have noticed and wondered what that might be. It’s right next to the Fiat bridge in the Mathaf area, and no, it’s not a training building for security forces, nor a rock-climbing structure. It’s a locally-produced automatic parking structure that the company feels might be the solution for the seemingly impossible parking problem in Beirut.


Here’s a video of how the Lebanese version works

How Much Will This Cost?

It would definitely be a great solution for buildings without enough parking spots, but there are two concerns that came to my mind. The first, how much it’d cost to get and maintain these automated parking structures. Second, how much it’d cost us to park in them. If it’s for a residential building, you won’t have to pay every time you park, obviously. However, if you’re going somewhere public like the bank or a shop, will the price tag be too high? Especially since regular parking lots are charging up to 7000 and 10000 LBP, how much would a high-tech option cost? Or rather, how much will they charge us to park in them with such exorbitant, unchecked current parking rates? And no other option to park in Beirut. And very little viable public transport options…

Not All Gloom and Doom

I think the prices will be an extra burden on our wallets, but, I’m also excited that local companies are taking the initiative and trying to find and create solutions to problems the Lebanese authorities never even bother with (they’re too busy drafting tax hikes to solve issues like urban planning and that boring stuff).

What it might look like someday (Source: SPCL)

Maybe more entrepreneurs and engineers here should start coming up with solutions the Lebanese government, busy extending for itself and hiking taxes on the lower and dwindling middle class, never even tries to do. Can’t wait to try one of those systems! Will let you know about it when I do.