At Berlin’s Aedes Architecture Forum, the exhibition ‘Five Working Spaces’ invites visitors to glimpse into Ai Weiwei’s studios across continents. On the occasion of the opening on May 23, 2025, designboom spoke exclusively with the artist, uncovering how each workspace embodies his political convictions, personal history, and creative vision. A central focus of the exhibition is Ai Weiwei’s most recent studio in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, built using traditional Chinese woodworking methods. 

‘My studio is an extension of my body and mental state,’ Ai Weiwei tells designboom. ‘Of course it’s political. Anyone who sees the exhibition can understand — it’s not that I want it to be political. It just is political.’

all images courtesy of Aedes Architecture Forum and Ai Weiwei Studio, unless stated otherwise

ARTIST, ARCHITECT AND ADVOCAT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Rather than illustrating architectural typologies or design processes, ‘Five Working Spaces’ explores Ai Weiwei’s studios as existential conditions, rooted in the artist’s early experiences of political exile. Born in Beijing, Ai Weiwei spent his formative years in remote regions of China, where his father, the poet Ai Qing, had been banished during the Anti-Rightist Movement. Known for his outspoken critique of authoritarian systems and his advocacy for human rights, Ai Weiwei ranks among the most influential figures in contemporary art and activism. His wide-ranging practice — spanning art, architecture, film, and social engagement — merges traditional Chinese craftsmanship with global aesthetics and personal narrative.

Five Working Spaces on view at Aedes Architecture Forum until July 02, 2025 | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

FIVE WORKING SPACES AT AEDES ARCHITECTURE FORUM IN BERLIN

The exhibition ‘Five Working Spaces’ at Aedes Architecture Forum traces key chapters of the artist’s life through the lens of architecture, presenting five studios located in Beijing, Shanghai, Berlin, and Montemor-o-Novo. Designed, commissioned, and inhabited by Ai Weiwei himself, each workspace mirrors shifting personal and political realities, documented through architectural models, photographs, drawings, and personal texts.

‘What’s similar is that all of them are tied to one individual – me – trying to fit myself into a working condition. But that condition is always changing. It’s more about connecting to my life, to the conditions I was given, the environments I lived in, how I grew up, how I became an architect, how I acted during moments of social and political change,’ he reflects in our conversation.

Ai Weiwei working on still life in his studio, Caochangdi, Beijing, 2000

His first studio in Longzhuashu, Beijing, redefined an austere concrete courtyard with a quiet gesture: planting Danish grass. The transformation was subtle, yet symbolically powerful — an act of reclaiming space through care. In the early 2000s, he designed his compound in the Caochangdi district, also in Beijing, which soon became a hub for artistic collaboration and large-scale installations. Both spaces would later be demolished by authorities, along with others: the Malu Studio near Shanghai in 2011, dismantled shortly after completion, and the Zuoyou Studio in 2018, destroying works still stored inside.

‘I’m used to irrational violence and no explanation. You cannot figure out the logic. You just take it and survive in it,’ the artist recounts, reflecting on these losses. ‘I grew up in that kind of environment. I was born into it. My father was exiled the year I was born. As demonstrated in the exhibition, I lived underground with my father — in a black hole.’

demolition of the Shanghai studio in Malu

In Berlin, Ai Weiwei established a studio in the cellar of a former brewery — an underground, introspective space that resonates with the years he spent in forced exile alongside his father in remote Xinjiang. Tucked away beneath the surface, for the artist, working underground is not only a physical experience, but also an emotional excavation, shaped by reflection and a return to memory.

Speaking to designboom, Ai Weiwei elaborates on this temporal shift: ‘I’m considered a contemporary artist, but my deepest emotions are connected to the past. I’m not familiar with German culture, because I don’t speak the language. I always relate my practice to the past. I appreciate human memory. Without memory, we don’t know who we are or where we come from. Then we can’t appreciate our current condition.’

inside Ai Weiwei’s studio in Berlin, 2018

The most recent of Ai Weiwei’s five working spaces lies in Montemor-o-Novo, a rural town in southern Portugal. The expansive wooden structure draws on traditional Chinese joinery, assembled without nails or screws. Designed with 100 regular columns and a rotated roof that echoes his demolished Malu Studio near Shanghai, the building stands as a monument to craftsmanship and cultural memory. This fifth studio, completed in 2023, resists categorization. Officially registered as a warehouse, it contains no defined program. 

‘Architecture is part of our body — our state of mind and physical condition,’ reviewing the decision to settle in Portugal, Ai Weiwei notes a change in pace and outlook. ‘I want a location that’s peaceful and quiet. A place where you can look at the sky and realize there are stars. In the morning, you can see the sun rays. In the evening, the moon comes up. That fits my psychological condition today.’

timberwork of the Portugal studio in Montemor-o-Novo | image © Yanan Li

Ai Weiwei’s Portugal studio in bird perspective

his fifth studio, completed in 2023

Montemor-o-Novo Studio, nine-part representation model | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

exhibition view | image © Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk

project info: 

name: Five Working Spaces

artist: Ai Weiwei | @aiww
location: Aedes Architecture Forum, Berlin, Germany | @aedesberlin

dates: May 24 – July 02, 2025

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At the Berlinische Galerie, artist Daniel Hölzl opens a new chapter in his ongoing conversation with space, structure, and impermanence. For the museum’s 50th anniversary, the artist has installed ‘soft cycles,’ an architectural intervention that fills the void above the main entrance with 800 cubic meters of gently shifting air. The installation hovers in the threshold, its sculptural monoliths suspended between expansion and collapse.

Daniel Hölzl constructs ‘soft cycles’ from pieces of earlier inflatable works, all previously situated across Berlin. At Berlinische Galerie, these fragments, crafted from white parachute silk, are gathered into a single translucent volume. This temporary skin encloses what once were doors, vaults, or corners, reframing memory as spatial tension. With each breath, the structure shifts, and new forms begin to unfold within the old.

images © Clemens Poloczek

daniel hölzl sculpts Structures with rhythm

The choreography of artist Daniel Hölzl’s ‘soft cycles’ plays out in timed repetitions at Berlinische Galerie. Air is absorbed and released according to an engineered sequence, activating the form like a lung. Daniel Hölzl situates this rhythm within the architecture of the gallery, where exhibitions, like the installation itself, are temporary and perpetually renewed. The building becomes a participant in the cycle, inhaling fragments of the past and exhaling new constellations of space.

In the hands of Daniel Hölzl, the materials carry their own logic of erosion. The parachute silk is durable, yet chosen for its delicate translucency. It registers each inflation as a gesture toward disappearance. At Berlinische Galerie, the fabric’s softness sits in contrast to the museum’s robust concrete and steel. What emerges is a negotiation between the fixed and the fluid.

Daniel Hölzl fills the entrance of Berlinische Galerie with a site-specific, inflatable intervention

balancing the Material and Ephemeral

Berlinische Galerie itself becomes a co-author of ‘soft cycles.’ Hölzl’s installation echoes Fritz Balthaus’ 2004 marked space – unmarked space, an embedded line of stonework across the plaza. Where Balthaus traces the footprint of the absent building, Hölzl fills the air above it. This vertical expansion reframes the museum’s entrance, reorienting attention toward the space that architecture leaves behind.

The air inside ‘soft cycles’ is at once a structural necessity and a carrier of memory. Daniel Hölzl approaches volume as a medium of change. Within the Berlinische Galerie, the inflating mass becomes a kinetic archive, holding traces of past exhibitions, prior forms, former sites. With each cycle, that archive is reordered, collapsed, and rebuilt again.

Living and working in Berlin since his studies at Kunsthochschule Weissensee, Daniel Hölzl takes the city as both subject and source. ‘soft cycles’ mirrors Berlin’s continual reconstruction, where no surface remains untouched for long. Hölzl pulls from this urban condition without dramatizing it. His response is quiet and grounded in material empathy.

‘soft cycles’ is composed of recycled fragments from Hölzl’s earlier inflatable works across Berlin

the structure breathes in and out at set intervals, creating a continuous spatial rhythm

parachute silk forms a translucent membrane that contrasts with the museum’s solid materials

the work responds directly to Berlinische Galerie’s architecture and past artistic interventions

Hölzl uses air and light as primary elements to reconfigure memory and space

the installation cycles through fullness and collapse, revealing impermanence as form

‘soft cycles’ draws attention to the evolving nature of cities materials and exhibitions

Daniel Hölzl positions architecture as a temporary condition shaped by repetition and change

project info:

exhibition: soft cycles

artist: Daniel Hölzl | @hoelzldaniel

gallery: Berlinische Galerie | @berlinischegalerie

location: Berlin, Germany

on view: April 25th — September 29th, 2025

photography: © Clemens Poloczek | @clemenspoloczek

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In Berlin’s Mitte district, Herzog & de Meuron’s Am Tacheles development is hosting three interior vignettes inspired by various architectural languages, staged by Garth Roberts. The interventions at ROOMS of AM TACHELES are shaped by three architecture and design studios — Fernando Laposse, Lotto Studio, and studioutte — who challenge conventional notions of domesticity by reimagining high-end living as a space of material exploration and conceptual storytelling rather than predetermined luxury. Under the guidance of Roberts, the approach deviates from conventional paradigms of domesticity and standard design vocabularies, instead embracing the unfinished and the exaggerated.

all images by by Robert Rieger

interventions by Fernando Laposse, Lotto Studio, and studioutte

‘ROOMS of AM TACHELES seeks to explore the diverse aesthetic and emotional potential of domestic life, shaped by the iconic architecture of these living spaces,’ explains creative director and multidisciplinary designer Garth Roberts. The interiors, each responding to a different room within the Mitte district, are thus not fully furnished and are posed as ‘gestures’ — fragments of possibility that encourage open-ended interpretations and engagement with space.

Fernando Laposse’s vignette is playful and pink, transforming the interior into a sensory domestic landscape shaped by organic textures. Known for his innovative use of natural fibers, the architect here works with sisal, corn husk veneers, and other overlooked materials to craft tactical surfaces and unexpected encounters. His vignette bridge sustainability with cultural heritage, turning these raw materials into a powerful medium for storytelling.

Garth Roberts stages ROOMS of AM TACHELES

dualities inspired by herzog & de meuron’s brutalism

Lotto Studio adopts a sculptural approach drawing on negative space, and balancing function with the expressive potential of materiality. Aluminum, burled maple, and Emperador marble touches dialogue with the architecture of Gruentuch Ernst. By treating interior design as an interplay of form, void, and inhabitation, the designers‘ composition feels both curated and open-ended. studioutte’s interpretation of domestic space, meanwhile plays with contrasts — juxtaposing raw aluminum against supple leather, translucent drapery against monolithic volumes. Whle also inspired by Herzog & de Meuron’s brutalist forms at Am Tacheles, the Milan-based studio infuses contrasting warmth and tactility, challenging assumptions about scale and softness in interior environments.

the exhibition includes three interior vignettes

all interiors are inspired by Herzog & de Meuron’s architecture

Fernando Laposse, Lotto Studio, and studioutte design a room each

the approach deviates from conventional paradigms of domesticity and standard design vocabularies

embracing the unfinished and the exaggerated

Fernando Laposse’s vignette is playful and pink

the architect here works with sisal, corn husk veneers, and other overlooked materials

turning raw materials into a powerful medium for storytelling

the approach embraces conceptual storytelling rather than predetermined luxury

tactile surfaces

project info:

name: ROOMS of AM TACHELES

creative director: Garth Roberts | @garth_tm

architects: Fernando Laposse | @fernandolaposse, Lotto Studio | @lottostudio.mb, studioutte | @studioutte

location: Am Tacheles, Berlin, Germany

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HENN takes over the transformation of the Behrens-Ufer former industrial site in southeast Berlin into a new urban technology hub. On the banks of the River Spree, research, development, and production will merge in both historical and sustainably designed new buildings. Among these, the Vertical Farmhouse by HENN will rise as a hybrid building, integrating an innovative working and research environment centered around a fruit garden.

The Vertical Farmhouse consists of two blocks enclosing an ascending terraced rooftop garden. This garden creates a network of paths extending from the riverside promenade to the rooftop. Beneath the garden lies a 9,000-square-meter vertical farm, harmonizing food production with a fish farm. Inspired by coastal agricultural landscapes, the rooftop garden features orchards, light extensions, and overgrown pergolas that invite visitors to pick berries and fruits.

view from the south | all images courtesy of © HENN

Innovative Vertical Farmhouse Links Workspaces with Nature

HENN Architecture Studio‘s design mediates between platforms at various heights, linking outdoor spaces with work and laboratory areas in the building wings. The clearly structured grid of the wings allows for flexible usage, accommodating a range of future applications. A bridge connecting the two blocks to the riverbank houses co-working spaces, offering views across the River Spree and the orchard. Meeting rooms within the garden terraces provide views of the vertical farm.

The vertical farm, reaching heights up to nine meters, grows lettuce and herbs, some in fully automated setups. The aquaponics process establishes a natural cycle that utilizes nitrate-rich water from fish farming as fertilizer for the plants. The building blocks, in contrast to the lush surroundings, are designed as clear, calm cubes with staggered levels, blending harmoniously into the environment.

main entrance, riverside promenade

HENN’s model Combines technology, nature, and agriculture

The hybrid-timber structure employs a low-tech approach to minimize resource and energy consumption. The facade combines large glass windows with photovoltaic panels for power generation. At ground level, arcades open to the riverside promenade, inviting visitors to explore the Behrens Gardens. Rooftops will feature beehives and agrivoltaic systems, combining agricultural production with electricity generation.

The synergies from the vertical farm contribute to a holistic sustainability concept, positioning the Vertical Farmhouse as a model project internationally. This integration of technology, nature, and agriculture within an urban setting exemplifies the future of sustainable city living.

orchard

orchard

orchard

roofscape

view from the south

project info:

name: Vertical Farmhouse
architects: HENN | @hennarchitecture

partners in charge: Daniel Festag, Martin Henn

competition team: Gianmarco Fabbri, Oliver Koch, Julia Menz, Armin Nemati, Andre Serpa, Pengyan Wu, Yanan Yuan

landscape architects: Aplantis

structural engineer: GRBV Ingenieure

building services: Winter Ingenieure

fire protection: Nees Ingenieure

client: DIEAG

gross floor area: 27,700 sqm

location: Berlin, Germany

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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Architecture studio FAR frohn&rojas has transformed part of a former office building from the early 1930s into the unusual Apartment Rungestrasse in Berlin, Germany. Set within a neutral backdrop, the converted workspace appears as a collage of white blocks and rhythmic architectural details and patterns — from rails and shelves to storage cabins and lighting fixtures. Completing the residential project are three massive and sculptural domed lamps. 

all images © Tobias Wootton

FAR preserves the original plan’s spaciousness

The start of the project proved quite tricky, forcing the team at FAR to confront the challenge of maintaining the spaciousness that the original open plan had to offer and refrain from subdividing it into a series of isolated rooms. As such, the first architectural element introduced to Apartment Rungestrasse is a ‘shelf’ featuring five bays and two levels. Each bay houses an individual environment: an entry zone, a cooking area, a workspace, a bathroom, a reading nook, a sleeping loft, among other things. Meandering around the shelf leads to the apartment bedroom.

Apartment Rungestrasse is a converted workspace from the 1930s

incorporating three massive domed lamps in the space

FAR also introduces three massive domed lamps to the converted office space, each spanning three meters in diameter and boasting a distinct color and design. All three hang right above head-height and zone the remaining open space of Apartment Rungestrasse. To design these hanging ‘domes’, lead architects Marc Frohn and Mario Rojas Toledo sought inspiration from historical architectural precedents: the iconic Pantheon in Rome, the großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin, and the Geodesic Dome by Buckminster Fuller. 

creating a neutral backdrop for the design

kitchen area

FAR maintains the original plan’s spaciousness

incorporating three massive domed lamps inside Apartment Rungestrasse

rhythmic patterns take over the space

bathroom area

a shelf featuring five bays and two levels

the domed lamps are inspired from historical archetypes

project info:

name: Apartment Rungestrasse

location: Berlin, Germany

architect: FAR frohn&rojas | @far_frohnrojas

team: Marc Frohn, Mario Rojas Toledo, Max Koch, Max Lefebvre, Maria Martinez 

client: Private

photographer: Tobias Wootton | @tobias_wootton

floor area: 211 sqm 

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Artist and choreographer Alexandra Pirici presents ‘Attune,’ a new large-scale site-specific installation with live performative action in the Historic Hall of Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. Co-commissioned by Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart and Audermars Piguet Contemporary, and co-funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the immersive installation transforms the hall into a vibrant living landscape. The exhibition will be on view from April 25th to October 6th, 2024.

Pirici’s action installation arranges a group of human performers who interact, move, dance, and sing within a landscape of animate and inanimate sculptural configurations highlighting the intelligence and performativity of self-structuring matter. A large sand dune repeatedly reconstructs itself as dancers’ bodies merge with its particles through subtle or, at times, more eminent gestures. Glass containers suspend from a stainless steel vine-like sculpture, serving as everchanging plants evolving through time. These active sculptural elements, featuring mineral formations and chemical gardens, remodel, prompted by the live performative action and polyphonic musical pieces occurring in space.

The ongoing active composition showcases a continuum of self-organizing processes and patterns. With ‘Attune,’ Alexandra Pirici explores the ways in which humans and non-humans resemble, influence, and attune to one another. The work encourages viewers to recognize and appreciate the interconnectedness of organic and inorganic forms within the world around us.

all images courtesy of the artist, Hamburger Bahnhof and Audemars Piguet

performative process celebrates Human and Non-Human Synergy

Pirici creates a dynamic imaginary landscape in the Historic Hall of Hamburger Bahnhof, combining active sculptural elements with live performance and intricate musical compositions. This setting, designed in collaboration with long-term partner Andrei Dinu, merges the archaic and the futuristic. Chemical reactions, mineral formations, and physical phenomena perform alongside living bodies in acknowledgment and celebration of the similarities, influences, and harmonies between humans and non-humans. ‘These processes not only define the experiential world, but also offer an insight into the emergence of life and evolution,’ Alexandra Pirici tells designboom.

‘Attune’ marks Pirici’s second partnership with Audemars Piguet Contemporary, building on the program’s backing of Pirici’s Encyclopedia of Relations (2022) at the 59th Venice Biennale. This new co-commission allows the artist to expand her work on a grander scale, blending fixed physical structures with live performance. The performative installation is curated by Catherine Nichols, curator at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, and is a joint commission between Hamburger Bahnhof and Audemars Piguet Contemporary. The exhibition is accompanied by the fifth installment of Hamburger Bahnhof’s catalogue series, published by Silvana Editoriale Milano. The exhibition receives financial support from the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) and Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media).

Alexandra Pirici presents ‘Attune,’ a site-specific installation with live performance in Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof

interview: ‘Attune’ through Alexandra Pirici’s words

designboom (DB): can you please start by introducing us to the concept behind ‘Attune?’

Alexandra Pirici (AP): The main idea revolves around the process of self-organization in both living and non-living matter. This process, like morphogenesis in embryos for example, involves cells organizing themselves to form specific structures. Benign compaction in heated liquids also displays this process. I was fascinated by how this procedure, basically, spans all these forms of matter, and by the idea that non-living matter nevertheless has the capacity to act and to produce, to construct something on its own, and the implication of this realization. For me, it was inspiring to investigate these interactions and try to stage them and find different instances of these self-organizing processes that I could embody with performers, and just show in different elements in the space.

‘Attune’ sets up a living landscape, combining performance art with animate and inanimate configurations

DB: what is the role of the visitors’ interaction in the performance?

AP: I didn’t aim for a didactic approach. Instead, I see the exhibition as a landscape visitors could explore freely. The live-action performance invites visitors to move through the space, discovering different interactive elements. Some bodies, such as the tree-like organ, are chemically driven, the performers activate them, allowing visitors to witness these chemical reactions. But I think it’s mostly just about observing these structures that are self-emerging in this way.

The sand dune is also an example of a self-organizing structure, as well as most or a lot of the things that the performers do. Certain actions are inspired by dynamic structures in groups of birds and starlings, more specifically. The singing is also about celebrating or creating a kind of ceremonial situation around this landscape. I think it’s just important that visitors enjoy it and that they take something or maybe they become curious about something and interested in the landscape itself.

performers interact, dance, and sing in a dynamic landscape, merging with the sculptural elements

DB: What is the role of sound in your work?

AP: I have actually always worked with music, most of the time live music. I am just interested in using the human voice. So in this context, polyphonic singing takes center stage, enhancing the experience. I think sound is also that element that takes up space in the best way traveling in it and filling up the entire hall. Here, polyphonic singing acts as this merger of more melodic lines into one common harmony which is something difficult to achieve. This challenges both the performers and the audience.

But, then, besides the artistic value, I think there’s an interesting political value in it. I don’t think we are practicing the capacity to listen to different voices at the same time and to find a common harmony or to find a common ground and find something that still sounds melodic. So in this particular work, which is called ‘Attune,’ we are talking also a lot about attuning and listening to each other, maybe your voice here has to be lower and maybe another one has to be higher, and the performers do a really beautiful work in finding this balance and listening to each other. I think this is the most important musical aspect of this specific work.

the large sand dune repeatedly shifts and reconstructs itself as dancers integrate with its form

DB: you mentioned that there are political aspects in your work, mostly through polyphonic singing and the symbiosis of living and non-living structures, could you elaborate on that?

AP: Polyphony presents a clear physical challenge of both producing and blending different melodic lines while maintaining harmony. This mirrors a political exercise, in the sense of harmonizing distinct voices singing different tunes. I’m interested in politics that aren’t always explicit but are present in the work, in the way the performers interact, and in the overall experience. The continuum between living and non-living matter is politically interesting, tying into the story of the world as an interconnected fabric, offering a liberating and politically significant perspective on transformation and change.

the installation showcases a continuum of self-organizing processes and patterns

Pirici explores the connections between humans and non-humans, emphasizing their similarities

the live performative action, combined with polyphonic musical pieces, creates a captivating experience

the installation includes active sculptural elements such as a stainless steel vine-like sculpture, a chemical garden

the installation showcases a continuum of self-organizing processes and patterns

the exhibition encourages viewers to recognize the interplay between organic and inorganic forms

project info: 

name: Attune

artist: Alexandra Pirici | @alexandrapirici

co-commission: Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart | @hamburger_bahnhof

co-commission: Audemars Piguet Contemporary | @audemarspiguet

curator – Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart: Catherine Nichols

curator – Audemars Piguet Contemporary: Denis Pernet

performers: Caroline Beach, Juan Corres Benito, Noemi Calzavara, Michelle Cheung, Gabrielle Duval, Miguel Angel Guzmán, Nitsan Margaliot, Jared Marks, Tatiana Mejía, Emily Ranford, Asuka Julia Riedl, Robert Schulz, Yurika S. Yamamoto

dates: April 25th to October 6th, 2024

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Berlin techno has been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, solidifying its significant contribution to the city’s cultural identity. This decision comes after decades of the scene fostering a unique space for self-expression and community, especially for marginalized groups. Now, it’s joined the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage which recognizes and safeguards important traditions, practices, and expressions that aren’t physical objects. Berlin Techno was one of six additions to this list, alongside other German traditions from viez cider to mountaineering in Saxony.

Berghain Berlin, image © Thomas Angermann

the genre’s legacy in germany

Techno has ‘shaped large parts of the city of Berlin since the mid-to-late 1980s,’ UNESCO said when it announced the news on March 14th, 2024. While the genre has roots stretching back since the mid 1980s in both Germany and the United States — especially Frankfurt, Berlin, and Detroit — the scene took off during the aftermath of the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. It was then, a time when much of East Berlin was empty, that abandoned industrial spaces in the German capital were transformed into nightclubs like the notorious and revered Berghain, founded in 1998. With its experimental electronic sounds, this new artistic movement had resonated with a generation growing up during the Cold War, and in the long shadow of the second World War, and yearned for freedom and expression. ‘From the DJ culture that emerged in previous years, techno became the soundtrack of the spirit of optimism after reunification,’ UNESCO continues.

Berghain Berlin, image © Darkroomduck

Rave the Planet, a Berlin-based non-profit organization, took the lead in advocating for UNESCO recognition. It actively campaigned to raise awareness about the cultural significance of Berlin techno, documenting its history, social impact, and ongoing evolution. The status extends beyond just prestige. The designation could help safeguard Berlin techno from threats like gentrification or stricter regulations that could stifle the scene’s creativity. UNESCO recognition could help to preserve venues from displacement due to gentrification, and could help advocates limit strict noise regulations or limitations on club hours.

WE DID IT!#Techno Culture in #Berlin is now officially recognized as @unesco_de #IntangibleCulturalHeritage!

Thanks to all cultural creators who shaped this #culture. This is a major milestone & our joy is beyond words!

•#ravetheplanet #ImmateriellesKulturerbeDeutschland pic.twitter.com/SWhZMxkXfI

— RAVE THE PLANET (@ravetheplanet) March 14, 2024

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Ahochdrei Design Studio, based in Berlin, has undertaken the redesign of GNEI dental practice, introducing thoughtful modifications to the existing spatial layout. The transformation involved a strategic intervention, dividing the entry hall diagonally to accommodate the reception area and create a welcoming entrance. The use of steel cladding on the partition wall contributes to the refined atmosphere, complemented by colorful terrazzo tiles and natural wood surfaces, fostering a serene yet lively ambiance.

all images by Maike Piorr

Steel, Terrazzo, and Natural Wood revamp the office’s interior

This intervention featuring precise modifications of the existing dental office’s structure not only enhances the workflow within the practice but also improves orientation for both clients and staff, effectively reorganizing the spatial program. The design team at Ahochdrei incorporates custom-made built-in furniture, resulting in a compact and inviting waiting room, as well as a private meeting room.

dental office booths

terrazzo tiles, wood, aluminum, textiles

counter detail

waiting room

bespoke table with GdB Studio tiles

custom-made bench and framed GdB Studio tiles

reception

project info:

name: GNEI dental practice
architect: Ahochdrei – Labor für Gestaltung | @ahochdrei_berlin

design team: Daniel Vedder, Jan Wind, Felix Schöllhorn

client: KFO im Bergmannkiez

collaborators: Tischlerei Dieken, Studio GdB, Mosaic Factory

location: Berlin, Germany

photography: Maike Piorr | @maikepiorr

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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HAUS 1 at Atelier Gardens is the latest structure within Berlin’s evolving impact campus, marking a significant phase in its redevelopment. Designed by MVRDV, the repurposed building, positioned at the heart of the six-acre campus adjacent to Berlin’s Tempelhof Field, offers 1,747 sqm of adaptable space across four floors. The building features a vibrant 57-meter-long external staircase in yellow, forming a unique ‘stairscape’ offering panoramic vistas while guiding access to the rooftop pavilion and terrace. Its versatile layout hosts offices, a concierge service, and a café, emphasizing functionality and innovation. Once an underused office space, HAUS 1 now accommodates Atelier Gardens’ growing community, and welcomes impact-driven organizations, film enterprises, and artists, aligning with the campus’s motto of ‘Celebrating Soul, Soil, and Society’.

all images by Schnepp Renou

a hub for connectivity and well-being

Led by MVRDV (see more here), Hirschmüller Schindele Architekten (more here), and Harris Bugg Studio (more here), the regenerative masterplan reimagines the mix of buildings on the 100-year-old film studio site, reintroducing greenery and circular water strategies to express Atelier Gardens’ philosophy. Its transformation preserves the existing structure, adhering to principles of re-use, and elevates it with high-quality design elements, fittings, and finishes. It serves as a hub for connectivity, fostering collaboration among diverse tenants, and providing communal spaces for work, relaxation, and idea-sharing. Sustainability measures within HAUS 1 highlight its commitment to environmental responsibility, featuring carefully selected materials, energy-efficient systems, water-saving fixtures, and initiatives promoting biodiversity, such as a living roof and regreening strategies.

Selim P. Güngör, the Campus Director, takes pride in contributing to positive change in Berlin, stating: ‘The world needs more places like Atelier Gardens that facilitate regenerative impact whilst driving purpose-driven, profitable business.’ The campus remains actively used for film and television production, and over the last five years, investor and developer Fabrix envisions Atelier Gardens as a model for integrating purpose and profit, diversifying offerings to accommodate a progressive impact community. Helen Newman, Director of Sustainable Investing at Fabrix, expressed: ‘Atelier Gardens is a vibrant events and workspace campus for creative impact occupiers that uniquely reflects the values of, and brings together, our diverse occupier community and events clients. It places sustainability and impact at the heart of everything that takes place here with the intention to be an exemplar in transformation of spaces and regeneration, from the soil to the nature it supports, enabling people and wildlife to thrive.’

a playful yellow external staircase offers views over Templehof field

Environmental Integration & Circular Water Strategy in HAUS 1

HAUS 1 includes the use of environmentally conscious materials such as biobased elements, sustainable timber for the new CLT pavilion, cladding, and internal flooring. Additionally, a significant portion of the materials used contains high recycled content and holds Environmental and/or Health Product Declarations. The lighting system has been upgraded to energy-efficient LED systems, while the sanitary fittings prioritize water efficiency. This includes low water-use WCs that will utilize recycled rainwater from the campus’ rainwater harvesting system. The structure features a new living roof with carefully selected plant species to promote biodiversity, along with a rooftop terrace enhancing the building users’ views and potentially contributing to their well-being. Moreover, the refurbishment efforts incorporated additional solar shading to support a natural ventilation strategy, ensuring comfort within the building while minimizing operational energy use.

the design removed unnecessary materials and opted for environmentally friendly sourcing

Atelier Gardens employs a circular water strategy, converting previously impermeable surfaces into permeable ones and utilizing rainwater for on-site reuse in WC flushing and landscaping. This approach bolsters the campus’ climate resilience and water efficiency. The regreening initiative, integral to Fabrix’s vision, aims to reintroduce nature, planting 57 new trees and over 8,300 plants to enhance biodiversity, support nature restoration, and create a green corridor with Tempelhof Field. These efforts contribute to climate resilience and offer spaces for occupants to relax, supported by beekeeping and sustainable food practices in the campus canteen, which emphasizes a ‘no waste’ approach, composting leftovers on-site to create nutrient-rich compost for reuse. Atelier Gardens serves as a model for future urban campuses, fostering a collaborative space for activists and thought leaders while promoting sustainability and nature regeneration.

Haus 1 contributes to the larger vision of the campus

image by Adam Wakeling

a sustainable and healthy workspace that will become a vibrant, recognizable symbol for the campus

HAUS 1 comprises of four floors, each spanning an area of 357 square meters

project info:

name: HAUS 1

architects: MVRDV | @mvrdv, Hirschmüller Schindele Architekten and Harris Bugg Studio | @harrisbuggstudio

location: Atelier Gardens, Berlin

exterior and interior images: Schnepp Renou 

drone images: Adam Wakeling

The post MVRDV’s yellow grand staircase marks atelier gardens’ new central hub in berlin appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

SAFLEX PVB

Cube Berlin’s shimmering, all glass architecture, with its angles and edges, mirror a modern image of the bustling Washingtonplatz in the German Capital City. To realize its reflective exterior, Eastmen’s Saflex Solar (SG) and Saflex Structural (DG) PVB interlayers were carefully selected to ensure a structurally sound building with effective solar control. This pioneering double-skin façade was realized through the cooperation of 3XN Architects in Copenhagen, engineers, and industry experts. In light of the building’s technical intricacies and requirements, their combined work resulted in a material that serves as a compelling case study in the field of architectural glass.

Cube Berlin’s double-skin façade feature Saflex PVB interlayers to ensure a structurally sound building with effective solar control

all images courtesy of Eastman unless stated otherwise | photo: M.Haller

The glimmering walls on the Berlin building were realized from technologies developed by global specialty chemical company, Eastman. Since 1937, glass fabricators and automotive engineers have looked to the company’s Saflex PVB interlayers for laminated glass applications like the one found in the Cube. Layered PVB is a compelling option for architectural applications, as it bolsters structural integrity, provides a versatile color palette, diminishes noise levels, and offers solar UV protection.

Saflex PVB interlayers by Eastman are often used in laminated glass applications

photo: M.Haller

collaboration brings forth glass laminate

Achieving the Cube’s walls, with its numerous aesthetic and performance challenges, called for a team of material and construction experts. Eastman, in partnership with Guardian Glass and other specialists, brought their respective industry’s knowledge to the table. Through comprehensive testing and modeling, they derived a novel approach to laminated glass that merged structural and solar PVB (polyvinyl butyral) technologies. Its composition was presented to and received approval from the national standards board, ‘Zulassung im Einzelfall ZiE’.

‘To design such a complex product, you need real teamwork, which is exactly what happened during the design phase with the glass supplier, the PVB supplier, the architect, and the façade consultant all working closely together,’ says Joachim Fauth of Drees & Sommer, façade consultant on the project.

Eastman, in partnership with Guardian Glass and other specialists worked together to create the glass laminate

photo: M.Haller

Through this collaboration, Cube Berlin’s transparent glass material was created, harmoniously complementing the clear blue sky while punctuating the urban landscape. This laminate material combines coatings, Saflex PVB interlayers, and glass, forming a surface that efficiently manages heat without the need for additional layers. To meet the building owner’s stringent energy requirements, Guardian Glass and Eastman selected a reflective solar coating for the building’s exterior. In addition, they integrated a Saflex solar-absorbing PVB interlayer to regulate the solar heat within the interior space.

Cube Berlin’s laminate material combines coatings, Saflex PVB interlayers, and glass

photo: M.Haller

shimmering landmark at Washingtonplatz

Inside, because of the complexity of the exterior building medium, occupants of the Cube are treated with floor-to-ceiling views while enjoying a comfortable yet highly energy-efficient space. From the outside, passersby can meditate on the ever-changing reflections of Washingtonplatz, Berlin, where the city’s business, government, and cultural districts converge in its angled planes.

project info: 

name: Cube Berlin

brand: Saflex

company: Eastman | @eastmanglobal

featured product(s): Saflex Solar and Saflex Structural PVB interlayers

architect(s): 3XN | www.3xn.com

glass configuration : 8mm GuardianUltraClear/Sunguard Coating/Saflex Solar (SG)/Saflex Structural (DG)/8mm GuardianUltraClear/Sunguard coating + IGU 6mm/12/4mm/12/6mm

client: Immo Deutschland | www.caimmo.com

glass laminator: Guardian Glass | www.guardianglass.com

façade consultant: Drees & Sommer | www.dreso.com

laminated glass: BGT Bischof Bretten | https://www.bgt.glass

location: Berlin, Germany

completion: 2020

photo credit: M.Haller | Eastman

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