Dance is an expression of the body, while fashion design gives the body new form and function. Can both become one in an only and unique genre? Last Saturday the new Hybrid-Art Space TRAUMABARUNDKINO presented its first in-house production combining contemporary dance choreographies with the presentation of four young fashion talents.
We had the opportunity to experience the performance NOW YOU MAY TELL THAT I’VE BEEN SEEN BY YOU and were incredibly stooked by so much creativity from different angles coming together.
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by Claudio | Art, Fashion
25hours, photo: Stephan Lemke
Over the years, we have given you plenty of tips on how to do Berlin on a budget – we’ve even provided you with this handy guide to our city’s most awesome hostels. But Berlin has more to offer than that – and we’ve got you covered when you feel like splashing some cash on your accommodation. Whether it’s your NYC friend asking you for advice on some fancy lodgings, or you’re searching for an apartment that’d be an escape from the city’s hustle and bustle without the need of hopping on a plane, check out this guide for Berlin’s coolest design and boutique hotels and holiday homes!
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by Michalina | Accommodation, Charlottenburg, Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Tiergarten
photo: Andrej Russkovskij
The fashion industry is believed to be one of the most toxic businesses for our environment. Billions of clothes are produced every year and in the process, lots of chemicals and dirt gets thrown into our rivers and oceans. But the saddest part is: most of it will maybe only last one or two seasons before it gets thrown into the garbage bin, and a large portion of the produced clothes that was never sold will get destroyed without having ever been worn. This is the shocking truth that everybody knows but everybody also wants to ignore when it comes to their personal needs.
This is not the case for Hanna and Julia. The two Berlin-based designers and Yoga lovers saw an important opportunity in clothes waste to make a difference with an amazing idea: Why not use the strong fabric of old jeans to create new bags for your yoga mat?
With this concept, they created the brand Dzaino which is nowadays making more products beyond their signature yoga bags. For their crowdfunding campaign, they asked me and other Berlin-based people why sustainable local design is so important and why it’s worth supporting. I think the most important part of this projects is to show that in cities like Berlin alternative concepts of multinational brands are tested and can become a reality. A reality that we really need to save our planet. Check out their video and pics of the campaign below and support them here.
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by Claudio | Fashion, Products
The combination of wood and metal makes your heart race, you wish that steam punk had actually been a time period and “vintage” truly is your second forename? Let us hook you up with the Mekka of industrial furniture at the one and only “Urban Industrial”, the holy hall for everything antique, unique and extremely stylish.
The brand was born out of founder Jakob Wagner’s strong passion and unmistakable talent for collecting vintage furniture from shut down factories, skillfully refurbishing them and putting them up in his store for you to fall in love with. What used to be a ballroom opposite Volkspark Hasenheide at Hermannplatz now spectacularly serves as their showroom. Upon entering it impresses you with its large space, remarkably high ceilings and grungy looking walls. With the atmosphere truly mirroring the industrial style, making a visit resembles an experience rather than just a shopping trip.
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by Franziska | Neukölln, Shops
Berlin is this hilarious place where a tacky discounter with a hot Angebot for plastic flip-flops can sometimes be located literally a few steps away from a concept store. This divergence is definitely among top 5 characteristics of this fabulous city – the city that inspires all different kinds of creative thinkers – many brilliant designers among them!
For our new shopping guide we have focussed on those stores with a especially contemporary concept that combines cutting-edge fashion with other products such as interior design, accessories, beauty products and more. Enjoy our selection of concept stores below!
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by Michalina | Fashion, Kreuzberg, Mitte, Neukölln, Prenzlauer Berg, Schöneberg, Shops
photos: Laura Fiorio
The local architect Itay Friedman presents his top five lesser known but most appreciated buildings in Berlin.
Berlins’ urban and cultural experience is composed of numerous structures and architectural marvels, from museums to concert halls, clubs to historical structures, parks, and monuments to statues and government building. All together elegantly compose what we call and define as the rich Berlin urban cultural experience.
As an architect that has been working in Berlin for almost a decade, I find that so many unique and important buildings that contribute profoundly to our cities cultural and social growth in an unprecedented way go unknown and unrecognized.
In Berlin we can find great examples of the purest form of architecture, which unfortunately are not always in the limelight as mostly nowadays architecture is not measured and examined by its own merit but by the name of the architect him/herself.
As Tag der Architektur 2017 is upon us (a yearly event celebrating architecture), created with the support of local architects, foundations and led by the chamber of architects Berlin, I wanted to share my top five buildings that are mostly unknown and that I essentially love the most in Berlin. In my eyes, they represent uncompromised professionalism by colleagues with unwavering resolute to our field, that I am proud to work alongside in the same city.
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by Guest Author | Design
illustration: Rob Flowers
Berliner creatives, rejoice! Once a year, our incredible city becomes home to one of the coolest designer and artist gatherings, Pictoplasma Berlin, which showcases the latest trends in character design, bringing together artists, video game and animation designers, virtual and augmented reality creators, but also illustrators, graphic designers, even kids’ books and ceramic designers, inviting them to explore how far they can push their genre boundaries, and our grasp of what’s real.
As its central event, Pictoplasma holds a conference where creators and producers have the chance to exchange ideas on new strategies on characters and trends. And while they do their thing, the wider festival invites us to enjoy multiple screenings of selected short films, bringing us the latest anime eye candy, combined with the opportunity to learn a thing or two, as the makers hold Q&As right after the screenings. Along with that, exhibitions run in galleries all around Berlin: there, one gets the unique chance to be part of quite rare exhibition tours by artists themselves, where they present originals and new productions. Cool huh? Parties and further art happenings is also part of the deal- enabling some fun interaction with the festival’s audience and production members.
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by Stella | Art, Design, Events, Galleries
photo: Karsten Hintz
Probably the best thing about Berlin is the fact that it’s so diverse that no matter what you’re interested in, you can find a whole bunch of places here that will enable you to pursue your passion. Same goes for design – apart from such amazing examples of outstanding architectural thought like the Martin Gropius Bau or the St. Agnes Church, there’s also plenty of museums devoted to the subject, like the Bauhaus Archive or the Kunstgewerbemuseum. You can also get inspired by new initiatives of people who’re keen on creating beautiful and functional things, like the guys from Fundamental Berlin or LLot LLov. More about them and similar suggestions after the jump!
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by Michalina | Art, Museums
There are some days in this city we call Berlin when you JUST WANT TO STAY IN BED. Simply forever. When you are with somebody special that you simply cannot separate from. Or when you are just happy with yourself, being lazy with a book, your diary or your laptop in front of you with your favorite TV series. And the best part? You can be naked as much as you want because there are cushions and blankets serving as your shield against the cold and hostile world out there.
I know in fact many Berliners who can lead quite bed-centric lives here completely ignoring all social activities, cool events or rays of sunlight outside becaue they prefer to just stay in and cuddle naked with their pillow, their loved ones or their loved ONS. The Berlin-based bed makers of Hochflieger came up with an incredibly intimate photo series of Berliners in their homes in their bed all naked. Enjoy the cosy photographs, preferably from the comfort of your own bed…
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by Claudio | Products
photos: Valerie-Siba Rousparast
Using something old and repurposing it for something entirely different – doesn’t this sound like something totally typical for Berlin? Just think of all the old, disused buildings close to the “death strip” back in the early nineties that were re-used by the artist and subculture scene for various new purposes, all the nightclubs in old factories and power stations. Think of all the cafes and bars fully furnished with granny’s old interior, the urban playgrounds like Holzmarkt or Klunkerkranich made of scrap wood and metal. There are countless examples here in Berlin that paint a picture of a city that constantly recycles and repurposes itself.
Stuart N. R. Wolfe is one of the creative minds in Berlin that perfectly understands the spirit of Berlin. For his project berlin-re-cycle he found one disused material that Berlin has quite a lot of: Old abandoned bikes. The streets are full of them and Stuart saw them as a great source for material. Through his work as a sculptor and furniture designer he already handled a lot of unusual materials and created new shapes in the past. With the scrap pieces of the bikes he now extended his repertoire with something quite practical: lamps.
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by Frank | Products, Stories
