Everyone loves looking at Berlin through the familiar grid of its dense subway and train system. We did it to find the way to the cheapest rents, closes lake, or best burger – there is even a map with an improved design which you guys especially loved.
Now we found something new and we think you will like this at well – especially you lovely Ausländers. It’s a Berlin Subway Map with literal English translations of all the stations which lead to such hilarious word creations such as Seinfeld Plaza (Senefelder Platz), Janno Joke Bridge (Jannowitz Brücke), Shitbus Gate (Kottbusser Tor) or Virgin Heather (Jungfernheide).
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by Frank | Design
Collecting small anecdotes of transitory moments.
One last energetic jump—right before departure, I make it into the narrow U1 car.
BEEP BEEP BEEP.
Doors closing; I take a seat on the purple patterned bench,
letting my gaze wander: around me, commuters in disguise––fellow passengers hide their faces behind oversized scarves and collars, almost a dozen figures, in front of nostalgic wood paneling in chestnut brown.
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by Andy | Stories
Collecting small anecdotes of transitory moments.
The underground is full of myths. A place that we share with so many others, yet hardly experience together.
A place where collective memory resides; and although mostly not crossing over the borders of personal experience, some moments transcend into the wider consciousness of the masses.
She was one of them.
Just a mystical rumor at first—captured in shaky Instagram videos and hollow voice messages—spreading along the U8 like a wildfire on a dry day in late August.
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by Andy | Stories
Collecting small anecdotes of transitory moments.
One of those mornings. The night was too long, the alarm clock too early, the coffee too late—and three cups too little.
As I fall over my open shoelaces in the hallway, I do wonder if I should have called in sick.
On my way down the aggressive miniature dog of my second-floor neighbor greets me with noisy, squeaky barking and jumps right at my throat. My day hasn’t even properly started but my heart rate already reaches unhealthy heights and my mood hits a new low.
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by Andy | Stories
Collecting small anecdotes of transitory moments.
I sit down on one of these uncomfortable metal benches in indecisive greys and blues. Rathaus-Neukölln. 4.30h. Saturday morning.
Can’t figure out if I’m still drunk or already hungover.
The party was too long, the re-fills too many, and–of course–this cute Brazilian had to open a ‘Berliner Luft’.
I look up, left and right; wondering which interior-designer figured eggshells-vomit was a fitting color choice for public transport…
But then again–The U7-line dates back to the 1930s, times when brown was en vogue.
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by Andy | Stories
Berlin’s subway system is not only known and loved for their cute yellow trains, but also for the iconic designs of its subway stations. All the different lines sport different styles and colors from different time eras that go through several decades of Berlin history. We traveled through the city one day and tried to capture some details of some of the stations to create this little quiz for you. How well do you know the subway system to be able to guess all of these stations? You can use the colors and tile shapes as clues for where this might be. Good luck!
How to play? Just click on one of the three possible answers underneath the picture and you will immediatly know if you were wrong or right. After that you can click on “Continue” below the answers to get to the next photo. In the end you will see your results below the final answer. Refresh the page to reset the game.
photos: Liz Ketcham
by Frank | Misc.
The Berlin transit map is probably one of the very first images a newcomer in the city gets familiar with. For a variety of reasons – the most obvious one being that it’s the ultimate guide when you’re coming back from a night out and your phone dies. But did you ever question the design of the map? Were your tired eyes ever lost along the rigid straight lines? Well, the bright minds behind the New Berlin Rapid Transit Route Map project thought the current official map needed some updating – read on to find out what they came up with!
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by Michalina | Design
photos: Abdulsalam Ajaj
Meet the Berlin-based artist creating his own, undressed version of the BVG’s ‘Because We Love You’ campaign.
Deliberately provocative, Mischa Badasyan is known for unusual art projects in photography, film or performance art. The Russian-born multidisciplinary artist is stepping over graphic, ethical and legal lines to move his viewer to reflect the society and the politics we live in. After moving to Berlin in 2013, his project “Save The Date” (2014) put him on the critics’ map, raising the age-old question: What is art, and is this art?
During his project, in between self-experiment, performance piece, and social study, he slept with a different man every day for a year. The project dealt with the absurd ways we seem to seek a brief feeling of proximity in blind dates and one night stands, that’s only followed by painful emptiness. “Only through pain we are able to learn something truly honest,” Badasyan told MAZ during the project.
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by Andy | Art
When product designer Stefanie Grau asked me if I would like to design a piece of furniture and become part of her newly formed grey collective I was more than thrilled to say yes. She had developed a set of chairs and a table that are fully foldable thanks to a high-tech fiber that connects all the parts. The idea is that when you fold the chairs or the table into its flat form they become canvases. So they are not only practical and easily stored, they can also become decorative items on your walls.
With a design so universal and minimal it really felt like the sky is the limit. Fellow collective members 44flavors created a quite colorful pattern, while Sara Parsons decided to go for a minimal design with lines and curves. Stefanie herself also designed a few sets going for subtle color surfaces and gradients.
For my own surface design I decided to do something very Berlin, giving a reference to one of the most iconic things we have here: Our yellow subway. I picked up the color palette and also created a version of the iconic blue and red seat pattern that incorporates yet another famous Berlin symbol (I detail which I dare you to find yourself!).
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by Frank | Design, Products
Look up into the sky, draw a circle of trust – the city is coming out of the dust. You can feel the air getting warm around you, building up contentment inside you. Let it culminate, come out of you – burst into laughter, come through.
Berlin is back, was never gone, we know that winter’s beautiful on its own. But no one can deny this side, the city’s warmer, happier smile. With all the gloom and seriousness, how bright can your smile really get? Pretty bright and very wide – just try to laugh about, smile! From ear to ear your teeth should show, how life is getting you to glow!
So laugh away the darker things, smile right into your little wings and fly away into the blue – the city is smiling and so should you.
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by Yasmin | Stories
