The studio aims to collectively research and redraw Berlin- Brandenburg’s aquifer paying close attention to the hydropolitical (hi)stories animating it. Typically, techno- scientific representations tend to visualize the aquifer as inert rocky material permeated by groundwater and dislocated from the urban processes above. Our objective is to redesign the ways in which the aquifer as a multitude of vibrant more- than-human matters is made visible and encountered. We do this by reconstructing the specific political pressures that surge water unevenly through urbanized stratifications. Our motivation: to provide new artefacts, concepts and figure- grounds for a more critical spatial design praxis.
Engaging multiple spatial and temporal scales, the studio follows a single assignment to rethink and redesign the aquifer. Working in small groups across four Berlin-Brandenburg sites, you will excavate the sites’ specific hydrosocial histories using multimodal methods including, spacetime drawing, hybrid mapping and ethnographic fieldwork. Methods will be taught through onsite workshops and an optional lecture series (SPACETIME MATTERS). During the course you are encouraged to keep a research diary to critically reflect on your learnings. Submission will include your diaries and short individual reflexive texts (PiV), group portfolios and a singular collective redrawing of the aquifer.
Studio teaching will be on Thursdays or Fridays, typically starting at 10:00am. The first session takes place on 18/4/2024 in studio 816, 8th floor IfA. A detailed course timetable will be issued then. Numbers are limited to 15.
- Trainer/in: Anna Edith Barwanietz
- Trainer/in: Jamie-Scott Baxter
- Trainer/in: Veljko Markovic
- Trainer/in: Franka Matthes
- Trainer/in: Anna Romeo
- Trainer/in: Jörg Stollmann
- Trainer/in: Felix von Xylander-Swannell