The event series gewerk in the garden serves as an exchange platform and resonance space for designers, culture professionals and other creative enthusiasts, taking place in the garden of our studio in Berlin-Friedenau.
We aim at one to three events of this series per year, each with a different thematic focus. Invited speakers from various areas offer theoretical or practical grounds for an interactive discourse with our guests by means of inspiring speeches, readings and workshops, making accessible new perspectives and developments.
Why is this important to us?
Design in general and exhibition design in particular are always an expression of societal developments and are also an opportunity to influence modes of action. Cultural, social and political processes are inscribed into all creative disciplines. Thereby, it becomes virtually indispensable to ask specific creative questions time and again. Questions such as: Who is being addressed? And maybe more importantly: Who isn’t? How is the creative message being communicated? Are ecologic and economic factors being considered sufficiently? How do current events, the discourse and trends alter creative disciplines, the creative industry and creative work?
As an interdisciplinary design studio, we need to pose these questions continually and discuss them, to transfer ideas and concepts to other areas, perspectives and contexts, to make them transparent for us and our audience. By exploratively thinking outside of the box of our own creative activity, we are searching for sustained inspiration.
Together with our guests, we would like to not only discuss current issues and tendencies, but beyond that, to jointly develop new topics and questions, in the hope of sparking a fruitful dialogue between different perspectives from various areas.
Would you like to be informed about the next edition?
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Project Team
Gewerkdesign
Stefan Rothert
Kristina von Bülow
Christina Storch
#6 Spatial Sound
11 July 2025
with Felipe Sánchez Luna
Arne Imig and Lukas Backs
At gewerk in the garden #6, sound engineer and sound artist Felipe Sánchez Luna discusses his work with sound in spatial design. Drawing on several projects by his sound collective Kling Klang Klong, he illustrates the effect sound has on the audience when it plays a central rather than merely a supporting role in the scenography. The focus is on multi-channel, interactive and modular sound environments. In a live performance, musicians Arne Imig (electric bass) and Lukas Backs (flute) sample natural sounds from our garden and improvise on their instruments to accompany them.
#5 Nature as Designer
10 September 2024
with Theresa Schubert
and Sarah Maske
There are works of art in which nature is the driving creative force. Process Art seeks to focus attention on natural processes. Bio Art, which evolved from Process Art, utilises biological processes in conjunction with technology. Both can be used to conduct scientific research that can be translated into spatial design. At gewerk in the garden #5, the artist Theresa Schubert presents two projects that combine science, technology, art and space. The curator Sarah Maske contextualises these projects within immersive spatial installations.
#4 Design and Capitalism
14 September 2023
with Mara Recklies
and Van Bo Le-Mentzel
Capitalism has permeated every aspect of our society. How do we deal with this, as a society and as designers? What role does design play in capitalism? In her lecture, the philosopher Mara Recklies argues that design’s role in promoting consumption should not be taken for granted. Pre-capitalist design existed, and we can work on strategies for post-capitalist design. Architect and designer Van Bo Le-Mentzel presents a practical example and brings his project with him: The Pick-Up House is a creative strategy to tackle the housing crisis through design.
#3 Collectives
8 November 2022
with Ingo Arend
and Ezra Dilger
Exhibitions and other projects that are the product of creative work notably ever more are conceived and realised as a group rather than originate from the work of individuals. This inevitably raises the questions: Has the long-held myth of the individual artistic genius become obsolete? What characterises collective practice? And what does this mean in the context of art and cultural production? We have invited two speakers to provide insights into this topic from both theoretical and practical perspectives: Ingo Arend, art historian and cultural journalist, and Ezra Dilger from Kollektiv Plus X.
#2 Sustainability
23 August 2022
with Eva Maria Heinze
Verena Michels and Vlasta Kubušová
The discourse on sustainability is ubiquitous: Hardly any other term has become so firmly established in everyday language in recent years. Yet it is no longer confined to environmental issues. We also strive to make socially sustainable decisions in our interpersonal relationships. But what is sustainability really? What does the term encompass today? And what does sustainability mean in the context of design and exhibitions? We will be discussing these questions together with the philosopher Eva Maria Heinze, as well as Verena Michels and Vlasta Kubušová from Sorry We Are Trying – Biomaterials In Practice.
#1 Immersion
31 May 2022
with Katharina Erben
A headfirst plunge into virtual waters – experiencing exhibitions with all the senses. Immersion is an enduring trend in exhibition design. Did video kill the radio star? Is immersion gradually replacing conventional exhibition design? And is that a good thing? Following a talk on the subject by Katharina Erben, we would like to discuss the experiences, benefits and drawbacks of immersive exhibition design with you. To this end, we invite you to join us in our garden for the first part of our gewerk in the garden event series.
