Disrupting Urbanity: RADIKAL Contemporary Dance from Brussels

Disrupting Urbanity: RADIKAL Contemporary Dance from Brussels

photos: Laetitia Bica

What makes a city a radical place? Conflicts and aggression? Melting pots of cultures? Extremity and irregularities? Or a specific energy that runs through the streets of the city like blood filled with adrenaline through human veins? I have never been to Brussels so far, but I heard it’s a special city. On the one hand tons of young passionate idealistic global citizen working for NGOs and the European Union. On the other hand, old-school politicians, lobbyists and international companies doing what they do best: capitalism. In that mix performance, art, dance and theater have a powerful nourishing ground of ambivalence to get inspiration from.

Therefore we are very excited to collaborate as media partners with Radialsystem V for the upcoming dance festival RADIKAL. Featuring over 20 contemporary dancers and choreographers from over 10 countries this festival has a unique program we would like to present to you. Under the patronage of Sasha Waltz on the 3rd and 4th of November eight performances will take place in one of our favorite theater stages in town. We are giving away 1×2 Tickets for Radical Light from Salva Sanchis. More pictures, the trailer and the program after the jump.

read more…

Holzmarkt – Berlin’s Unique Urban Oasis

Holzmarkt – Berlin’s Unique Urban Oasis

Who would have thought in the mid 2000s that a tiny shack of scrap wood on an abandoned lot at the river Spree would ever become the quirky urban oasis that is the Holzmarkt today?

It was in the year 2004 when I stepped into the so-called Bar25 for the first time. At the time it was a tiny improvised bar made of recycled wood at the end of an overgrown footpath in the wastelands of the Spree riverbanks in Friedrichshain. There was no techno party going on there, just the comfort of a worn out couch and some beers. I was on a date then that I hardly remember now, but I remember the place because it became of one the most legendary international techno clubs and a hub for youth culture of the post-millennium era.

Over the course of the next 7 years the buzz around this inconspicuous little place became louder and louder. I dropped by every now an then observing their journey to techno heaven and international fame. The bar grew bigger ever year, adding a small circus arena, a pizza parlor, a restaurant, a spa, a pool, a hostel and more cute little things to its world making it a little paradise that you never wanted or needed to leave. They started the whole cult of going to a place and not leaving it for 5 days straight. You didn’t have to, because there was everything you needed – plus a swing with a lovely view of the sunset over the Berlin city silhouette. There was a lot of feathers, confetti and glitter involved, something that set the Bar25 apart from it’s more understated neighbor Berghain that opened around the same time as them.

read more…

Shaping our City: Nicolas Defawe from Urban Spree

Shaping our City: Nicolas Defawe from Urban Spree

Nicolas Defawe

After our interviews with Berlin city shapers PANSY from Yo! Sissy Festival and Yasha Young from Urban Nation we are coming to the third and final part of our interview series that is inspired by Heineken’s Shape Your City campaign. While the winners of The Cities Project are already working to make their bar concept a reality in the beautiful city of Cologne, we had a chat here in Berlin with our latest interview partner Nicolas Defawe. If his name doesn’t ring a bell for you, you might know some of the amazing spaces that he was and is involved in such as the awesome, but sadly closed HBC, the short-lived +-0 in the old Postbahnhof building, and the Urban Spree gallery at the RAW area.

Nico is one of the people in the alternative cultural scene of Berlin that we have collaborated with a lot over the years with many of the events we did with iHeartBerlin and its sister project Designer Scouts. It was always such a pleasure to work with him because he has such a positive and supportive spirit and he is the type of guy that you can easily go and steal horses with (this is a funny expression we like to use in German that means that someone is game with just about anything). In our interview with him and his Urban Spree partner Pascal Feucher we revisited some of the old places and looked into the future for the current one…

read more…

Urban Legends of Berlin: Better Internet in the U-Bahn?

Urban Legends of Berlin: Better Internet in the U-Bahn?

We all know some urban myths: Everyone has heard about them, but no-one really knows if they are true and so rumors make rounds and are passed on. We want to take a closer look at some of Berlin’s urban legends and stories that we’ve all heard of and finally uncover the one and only truth.

So let’s begin with the mobile internet connection in the Berlin U-Bahn: Is it really true that you get a better wireless data connection the closer you’re to the front of the train? And what about free Wifi at the train stations in the near future?

We talked to the BVG and got our mystery questions answered. The whole truth after the jump…

read more…

Exploring Berlin: Hanging Out in Kreuzberg

Exploring Berlin: Hanging Out in Kreuzberg

Following the spirit of our Exploring Berlin series we want to look at another district today and show you our favorite places there. This time we chose the one that we are surrounded by the most as our office at Blogfabrik is located right in the middle of it. I’m talking about Kreuzberg of course, probably one of the most popular districts of Berlin at the moment.

People who come to Berlin just love it here. It’s buzzing and it’s relaxed at the same time. It offers everything from delicious food, compelling art, pulsating nightlife and cultural entertainment. But apart from all of that Kreuzberg is particularly good for one thing: Just hanging out and having a good time. So we drove around in the past days dropping by the most beloved hang-out spots of the Berliners and snapping some photos for you. By the way all of the photos in this feature have been taken with the new Sony Xperia Z5 smartphone (versus the Z1 or my SLR that I normally use) which is being presented at the IFA these days. But now let’s dive into our favorite places in Kreuzberg.

read more…

Urban Tenting: Get off the Grid in Berlin

Urban Tenting: Get off the Grid in Berlin

photos: Marlen Mueller & Thomas Adler

Who needs a little time out from everyday life to do… well, how about nothing? Having some time to breath, slow down and letting your thoughts wander? No Whatsapp, no Facebook, no deadlines, no worrying.

We all deserve a little Time-Out every now and then and now that it’s summer here in Berlin there’s no better way to do this than grabbing a blanket with your favorite person (and/or pet) and heading out into the wilderness with your tent and some home-made sandwiches. It doesn’t matter if you are a newbie or a pro, whether you stay a full week somewhere in the South of France or take a day hike to a park in Berlin. The important thing here is to unplug from the daily stress.

Take inspiration from Berlin-based photographers Marlen Mueller and Thomas Adler who document their camping ventures on their blog Urban Tenting. Read more about it after the jump.

read more…

Stroke Urban Art Fair 2013 – Preview

Stroke Urban Art Fair 2013 – Preview

This Thursday the Stroke Art Fair for urban art is opening its big exhibition at Alte Münze with a full program of parties, workshops and live painting sessions. As we are big fans of urban art this is a must-go for us and we are looking forward to the works of all the graffiti, street and comic artists, illustrators, as well as graphic and motion designers from around the world that will be presented. Don’t miss the big opening party hosted by MVSCHI Kreuzberg on Wednesday night and the aftershow party on Friday night and the closing party on Saturday night. The exhibition will be open to the public until Sunday night. Get a little taste of what to expect after the jump.

read more…

The Urban Living Room

The Urban Living Room

Those of you who follow me on Instagram might have noticed that I was in Madrid recently visiting friends of mine and maybe you even saw a couple of the shots I took in their beautiful apartment. When I stepped into their new living room I felt like I entered a special kind of wonderland – a grown-up’s playhouse, full of treasures and magical creatures. I was instantly in love with this place. My friends have a very, let’s say, playful taste in interior design and decoration.

Seeing this place made me once again realize how much a living room reflects on the character of a person, their tastes, their sense of humor, their meticulousness (or the opposite of it). We create an urban space around us as an extension of ourselves. It’s almost like a different kind of arrangement of the same things that make up our personalities. We take a big box – a room – and customize it to our own standard and comfort.

My urban living room, the new Facebook photo contest by mobility brand smart, tries to capture exactly that: How do we design and shape the urban space around us, how does our urban living room look like? With their recent collaboration with Danish brand BoConcept smart has already successfully ventured into the field of interior design bringing out a collection of furniture and home accessories that combine the style and expertise of both companies. More about the contest and a few more shots from my new favorite living room after the jump.

read more…

smart urban stage Frankfurt – the Party

Imagine a trip to the land of the future. Where a princess plants trees, lamps are enlighted by the wind, streets are painted in joyful colors by millions of childrens and supermarkets are places where people come together to share food and love. These are just a few of the participating projects of the smart future minds award that took place in the 12th and final smart urban stage in Frankfurt.

We had an incredible experience getting to know the people behind these projects and meeting bloggers from all over Europe. We were really moved by the spirit of the heartfelt responsabilty for a better future. We were happy and proud to be part of the smart urban stage project right up from the start here in Berlin until its culmination in Frankfurt. The first prize went to The People’s Supermarket from London: A supermarket serving as a transparent food supplier and a meeting place for the local community.

After the jump you’ll find our photos from the event and after party and the list of amazing bloggers we met on the smart urban stage.

read more…

Urban Affairs at Stattbad

_dsc1148

JUST / just.ekosystem.org

If you think this week is only about fashion in Berlin you are wrong! Because tomorrow the Urban Affairs Extended Street Art Festival will open at Stattbad Wedding. We saw this last summer at Brauerei Friedrichshöhe and it was pretty amazing. The new location is also very promising as I have already experience a cool party there a few weeks back.

Some of Berlin’s most popular street artists will take part in this big group show, including Anton Unai, Nomad, El Bocho and Alias, as well as international street art hero Banksy. Go after the jump to see the full schedule. You can win tickets for the official party on Saturday here.

read more…