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I went to visit the opening of a classmate’s art exhibit. She was displaying her paintings in a place which I found tragically beautiful:

It was an old building complex behind the Karlsruhe train station. This property had been bought by the city over 25 years ago, with intentions of putting an art school there. However, this plan wasn’t realized and the buildings were neglected. The city wanted to tear them down, but artists occupied the site and made it an inofficial studio/event site. Since they were doing no real harm, the city tolerated this and had the artists pay a small amount of rent.
Now, 25 years later, the site continues to be a half-legal site for art exhibits. I can see why the artists are occupying it, but I can also see why the city doesn’t really like it. The place has lots of potential and could be amazing, but it is so run down that some parts are too fragile to enter. You wouldn’t consider the site very inviting, yet you can’t deny it’s uniqueness. This really is a secret garden.