Alexander von Humboldt and Humboldt Volcano @ Tagesspiegel

Rüdiger Schaper, author and head of the cultural department of the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” presents his biography on Alexander von Humboldt and discusses Hybrid Space Lab’s Humboldt Volcano during the Studio Talk at the MakeCity Festival.

Studio Talk, Reading, Presentation & Discussion @ MakeCity Festival, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Berlin, 5 June 2018

New
Worlds

Rüdiger Schaper, author and head of the cultural department of the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” presents his biography on Alexander von Humboldt and discusses Hybrid Space Lab’s Humboldt Volcano during the Studio Talk @ MakeCity Festival.

A conversation between the author Rüdiger Schaper and Prof. Elizabeth Sikiaridi and Prof. Frans Vogelaar of Hybrid Space Lab.
Moderator is Merlijn Schoonenboom, Dutch journalist and historian.

“Cities dealing with the effects of climate change are already having to rethink their public spaces in fundamental ways.
Landscape architects are already remixing their classical designs for parks and recreation spaces and develop new hybrid forms.”
MakeCity

Berlin Hybrids

Fusing culture and nature and the legacy of the sustainability pioneer Alexander von Humboldt. How can his ideas inspire us today and how can they influence the future developments of Berlin?

Nature Connectivity

The naturalist and polymath Alexander von Humboldt developed first sustainability concepts and the understanding that all nature is connected.

New Worlds

The actuality and relevance of his ideas are presented in the recently published biography of Alexander von Humboldt („Alexander von Humboldt – Der Preuße und die neuen Welten“, Siedler Publishers) by Rüdiger Schaper, head of cultural affairs section of the newspaper Tagesspiegel.

Today, however, the Berlin Humboldt Forum, which bears his name, is without any green whatsoever.

The Humboldt Volcano project by Hybrid Space Lab, inspired by Alexander von Humboldt’s ideas and research findings, fuses nature and culture, integrating nature into the built structure. The innovative design faces up to the current challenges of climate change, positions itself against nostalgia and reconstruction, continuing thus the Humboldtian legacy.

As a combination of architecture-nature-technology and referring to its namesake, the explorer Alexander von Humboldt, the project Humboldt Volcano gives the Humboldt Forum in the reconstructed palace a contemporary presence that radiates strongly into the city.

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