Floating University Berlin | raumlabor berlin

From May to September 2018 raumlabor berlin invites into a visionary inner city offshore-laboratory for collective, experimental learning, knowledge transfer and the formation of trans-disciplinary networks to challenge routines and habits of urban practices – the Floating University Berlin.
A rainwater retention basin right next to the former Tempelhof airfield is the gathering place for visiting students and scientists from more than twenty international universities as well as artist from all over the world, local experts, architects, musicians, and dancers.

photography by © Victoria Tomaschko

All of them come together to research and investigate the daily routines and practices of urban living and to formulate visions and ideas for an organizational transformation. In the experimental area around the rainwater retention basin, the Floating University is looking for contemporary, resilient forms of urban practice with a visionary focus on an unknown future.

photography by © Victoria Tomaschko

Students and their teachers from Berlin, Europe and elsewhere collaborated on building the campus: learning spaces, workshops, an auditorium, a laboratory tower for experimental water filtration systems, a kitchen, a bar and of course the toilettes. They created a space for exchanging knowledge within experimental, educational formats. A place where transdisciplinary research teams and various positions come together to grapple the complex questions of urban practices: How can cities cope with risks, strains and chances of global warming, the shortage of resources, superdiversity and hyper-accelerated development- nowadays? Which tools do we need to live and work well and in a resource-efficient manner in the future?

photography by © Victoria Tomaschko

During three “Open Weeks” in May, July and September the Floating university invite the local and international public to explore the rainwater retention basin and the campus, as well as to participate in workshops, lectures, seminars, hot tub talks, concerts and performances.

photography by © Victoria Tomaschko

Project Info:
Architects: raumlabor berlin
Location: Lilienthalstraße 32, 10965 Berlin, Germany
Lead Architects: Benjamin Foerster-Baldenius, Florian Stirnemann
Design Team: Dorothee Halbrock, Licia Soldavini, Amelie Schindler, Carla Kienz, Gilly Karjevsky, Katherine Ball, Laura Raber, Lorenz Kuschnig, Nina Klöckner, Rosario Talevi, Teresa Huppertz, Timo Luitz, Uwe Tisch
Drawing: Jeanne Astrup-Chauvaux
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Victoria Tomaschko, Daniel Seiffert
Manufacturers: LAYHER, LDPE
Project Name: Floating University Berlin