One of my objectives during the field trip to Grünheide was to capture the soundscape of the forest surrounding the Tesla Gigafactory. After taking the shuttle bus from Fangschleuse, I arrived at the main entrance and set out to find my way into the forest on foot. However, this proved to be more challenging than I had anticipated. The area was surrounded by a network of roads and highways, making navigation difficult. I found myself on a long bike lane, with the factory on my right and the A10 highway on my left. With the factory fenced off and crossing the highway nearly impossible, my only option was to continue straight ahead, highlighting the hostility of the man-made landscape to unscripted behavior.
Trying to leave the paved route, I stepped onto a patch of uncultivated land between the factory and the bike lane, entering a narrow strip of trees—the remnants of the forest, shrinking due to the expansion of the industrial complex and transportation infrastructure. While drivers on the highway might perceive it as a drive through a forest, the sounds of ongoing work from the factory and the roar of passing cars, accompanied by the occasional rustle of dried grass in the wind, reveal the environmental impact of industrial expansion.