Built in 1979 as West Berlin’s answer to the East’s Palast der Republik, the ICC is a singular product of its time: the 300-metre-long congress centre straddles a highway, features an auditorium that can be raised on chains to reveal a ballroom underneath, as well as 9,000 seats with built-in ashtrays. The future of the ICC has been in limbo since it was decommissioned a decade ago, but the architecture remains intact. Over several visits in 2021, Pfeifer documented this time capsule of late-1970s Berlin as it sits in standby mode. Focussing on interior details such as the handrails, tiles and wall-to-wall carpet, or the neon light and information system – designed by the artist Frank Oehring when he was still a student – ICC is an appreciation of the architecture itself and of the shoot-for-the-moon mentality that made it possible.

Installation View at Foto Wien, 2023