What Does Home Mean to You?

What Does Home Mean to You?

Berliners and their apartments continue to serve as an inspiration to numerous projects, including this recent photography series portraying Berliners through their windows in times of Corona. But now more than ever, we especially need projects that aim to connect people. That’s the goal of Nomads at home – an online network for quarantined Berliners which collects their various definitions of home.

Nomads at home is a project created by the architect Zuzanna Kotecka. It’s an online space for quarantined Berliners to showcase their idea of home and connect with others, with the aim to establish ”a network of people that support each other, personally and professionally.” Each entry on the website features a particular Berliner, along with their photo, job description, country of origin and an answer to the question ”What does home mean to you?”.

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The Unexpected Comfort of the Mundane Life at Home

The Unexpected Comfort of the Mundane Life at Home

photos: Roger Sabaté

What a fucking rollercoaster ride. I’m sure most of you will agree that the last 3 weeks have been some of the most intense ones we’ve all lived through. It’s hardly an exaggeration that what’s happening right now is the biggest shared global experience since… ever? I don’t even think the world wars actually immediately effected every single country in the world as this pandemic does. And I guess even previous outbreaks didn’t reach as far and as fast because back then the world was just much less connected than it is now.

But while it’s crazy outside in the world, what most people are really experiencing right now is actually happening on a much smaller landscape. For us, everything’s going down now in our own four walls. And unless you are still working and have not been confined to the home office, the longest way you walk from there is probably the small number of blocks you have to pass to reach your nearest supermarket. Our world feels like it shrunk remarkably.

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Staying in Love with Berlin

Staying in Love with Berlin

photo: Mike Kotsch

You fell in love with Berlin, the vibrant party location that sometimes forgets it’s supposed to be a capital and acts like a huge open air techno festival instead. It felt good, so you thought you’d stay, taking your relationship with Berlin to the next level – calling it your home. But every single commitment drags along its gnarly twin – monotony.

Now that you’ve dropped your anchor here, that morning glimpse of the Fernsehturm on your daily commute may not feel quite as exciting as it used to. Even the most unique sights can grow old, and what draws your attention instead is the smell of piss and trash lying all along the curbside.

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20 Things to Do at Home When You Don’t Want to Leave the House

20 Things to Do at Home When You Don’t Want to Leave the House

photos: oh_hedwig

There are times when you simply don’t want to or can’t leave your house, no matter if it’s because of the weather, you’re sick or simply to lazy to climb out of your cocoon and just want to enjoy the cozy and warm atmosphere of your home. No-one captures this better than Saskia Bauermeister on her Instagram account @oh_hedwig. For me, she is the queen of “coffee and cake in bed” and “curling up at home” as she turns this mundane activity into an art form. Her charming photographs wrap me up in a warm blanket of comfort and let me forget all the horrible things that are happening outside like heavy rain and dirty, melting snow.

Looking through Saskia’s stream I feel inspired for many activities that you can do at home when you just don’t want to leave the house. And so I thought I transform this into a fine list of suggestions for you accompanied by some of her most beautiful photos.

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When Kreuzberg Becomes Your Home

When Kreuzberg Becomes Your Home

Kreuzberg, photo: oktober bay / CC

I love Kreuzberg. Especially the area around Kotti because it is really special and it reminds me of Exarhia, a neighborhood in Athens that I used to live in. At Kotti you can find everything and everyone. It’s like Babel. Sometimes it can be really, really overwhelming, but that’s its beauty. And while everybody seems to mind their own business, it feels that each and every person is more present than ever. That’s how strolling around Kottbusser Tor feels like.

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Souls in a Box: Creative Berliners in their Amazing Homes

Souls in a Box: Creative Berliners in their Amazing Homes

Souls in a Box is a super charming portrait series by Italian photographer Alessandra Mannisi who has captured creative Berliners in their very unique homes. “This is a photography and anthropology project that draws insight into people’s lives focusing on their own personal intimate living space. Every box is a collection of memories, dreams, obsessions, hopes and points of view. This is a report about special people and their stories, but also a big window into our contemporary world. The purpose of this project is to show how different spaces can represent people’s personalities, but especially, to explore a contemporary and extraordinary generation from the inside and through many different lives,” explains Alessandra about her series. To complete a full set of 100 Souls in a Box she is still looking for more artists and creative individuals of any nationality, age, social extraction, culture, taste or art stream who have a unique home. If you fit this profile or know someone who does, please contact Alessandra and maybe you can soon be part of this amazing collection! Enjoy some of her photographs of this series after the jump.

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Beer and Champagne

jimbo-starlight

Jimbo Starlight

While it was kind of tricky to gather enough cool events for our weekly party guide lately this week is absolutely and it will be hard to decide where to go. Will we sip champagne in the Malzfabrik, go on a blind date at the Hoppetosse, get sick at Picknick or wasted at Panorama Bar? Oh what the hell, we are only young once, so let’s do it ALL! The parties after the jump.

Members of our iHeartBerlin.de Facebook Group have the chance to win guestlist spots for the DFA Night at .HBC this Saturday. So you better join now.

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