#Heritage Lab

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Custodians of the Past or Shapers of the Future? @ Humboldt Forum

Hybrid Space Lab developed a series of projects for the radical appropriation of the controversial Humboldt Forum in Berlin:
Whereas Humboldt Jungle formulated a strong vision for the re-wilding of the Forum and Humboldt Volcano developed a concrete architectural design solution that addresses many of the foreseeable problems in the Humboldt Forum and that could be realized in the (near) future, Humboldt Kosmos is a fictional universe based on Humboldt Forum that opens up a multiplicity of possible futures.

Publication Humboldt Futures @ Atlas der Datenkörper 2, Transcript Verlag, Germany, 27 May 2024

Humboldt Futures @ Atlas der Datenkörper

Hybrid Space Lab developed a series of projects for the radical appropriation of the controversial Humboldt Forum in Berlin:
Whereas Humboldt Jungle formulated a strong vision for the re-wilding of the Forum and Humboldt Volcano developed a concrete architectural design solution that addresses many of the foreseeable problems in the Humboldt Forum and that could be realized in the (near) future, Humboldt Kosmos is a fictional universe based on Humboldt Forum that opens up a multiplicity of possible futures.

Publication Humboldt Futures @ Atlas der Datenkörper 2, Transcript Verlag, Germany, 27 May 2024

Bismarck Beyond @ Foundation Historical Museums Hamburg

Hybrid Space Lab’s contribution entitled “Bismarck Beyond” to the Bismarck Neu Denken competition is exhibited at Foundation Historical Museums Hamburg from 26 July till 16 August 2023.

Bismarck Beyond @ Foundation Historical Museums Hamburg, 26 July-16 August 2023

Daring Design @ Tagesspiegel

As adventurous as Humboldt himself: The design by the architecture firm Hybrid Space Lab for the Berlin Palace.

Publication by Julia Weiss @ Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 31 January 2023

 

eCommemoration Convention 2022 @ Körber Stiftung

Hybrid Space Lab is participating in the eCommemoration Convention 2022 at the Körber Stiftung.
The Körber Stiftung eCommemoration Program brings together international historians, museum makers, digital pioneers, and creatives to shape innovative and digital memory culture.

Participation @ eCommemoration Convention 2022, Körber Stiftung, 29- 30 September 2022

Deep Space @ ARA

Publication by Sílvia Marimon Molas at the leading Catalan newspaper ARA on how Spanish authorities are relocating symbols of the dictatorship.The article on Spain’s ‘uncomfortable memory’ refers to the Hybrid Space Lab’s project Deep Space.
Deep Space is a long-term investigative program initiated to deal with politics of memory, controversial space and monuments, digitalization and heritage.

Publication Uncomfortable Memory, Sílvia Marimon Molas @ ARA Catalan Newspaper, Barcelona, 16 July 2022

Hybrid Heritage @ UNA Europe

Lecture at the UNA University PhD Workshop Heritage Hybridizations: Concepts, Scales and Spaces.

Lecture Hybrid Heritage @ UNA University Alliance Europe, Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Galerie Colbert, 2 rue Vivienne, Paris, 31 March 2021, Online, 1 July 2022
Published @ UNA University, Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Paris, 1 July 2022

Hybrid Space @ Kulturstiftung des Bundes

Keynote Hybrid Space @ Culture at the digital cultural innovation program dive in , Bundeskulturstiftung, Germany, 22 September 2021

Keynote Hybrid Space @ Bundeskulturstiftung, dive in “new forms of artistic production”, Halle an der Saale, Germany, 22 September 2021

Re-Contextualizing Bismarck @ Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg

Hybrid Space Lab is invited to develop ideas for artistic intervention possibilities at the Bismarck Monument in the Alter Elbpark in Hamburg and to suggest ways in which the monument could be set in a new context.

Lecture & Panel Discussion @ Re-Contextualizing the Hamburg Bismarck Monument,  Ministry of Culture and Media Hamburg, Germany, 16 September 2021

Hybrid Spaces @ Lithuanian Union of Architects

Our whole sense of reality is shaped by our hybrid existence. Hybridity is a multifaceted notion, as we are experiencing a proliferation of hybridization in all dimensions of our contemporary life. This is discussed in an article on Hybrid Space, published by the Lithuanian Union of Architects.

Publication Hybrid Spaces @ Regeneration [and its Discontents], Lithuanian Architectural Foundation, Vilnius, Lithuania, 4 June 2021

Re-Charting Places @ Designs for Vulnerable Memories

We need a fresh, radically innovative and solutions-oriented approach to address the various forms of contested heritage sites in a way that is fit for the 21st century.
Article on Hybrid Space Lab’s work on contested monuments, is published in Italy.

Publication Re-Charting Places @ Contested Spaces – Concerted Projects: Designs for Vulnerable Memories, LetteraVentidue Edizioni, Syracuse, Italy, April 2021

Deep Space @ Art Journal Hjärnstorm

Hjärnstorm, the Swedish independent journal of art, literature, philosophy published an article on Deep Space.

Publication Valle de los Caídos: the Digital Architecture Embraces a Painful Heritage, Cecilia Nyman @ Hjärnstorm Stockholm, 5 January 2021

Deep Space @ archithese

Hybrid Space Lab analyzed “Valley of the Fallen” near Madrid – the pompous tomb for the fascist dictator Francisco Franco. They suggest leaving it unchanged but covering it with a new critical layer. Using augmented reality, they want to make hidden layers visible and write history from the victims’ perspective.

Publication Informing instead of glorifying, Jørg Himmelreich, @ archithese, Switserland, 28 November 2020

Hybrid Identity @ Bauhaus University

Hybrid Space Lab contributes to the international conference “Practices of Inheritance – Metaphors, Materializations, Power Constellations” of the “IDENTITY AND HERITAGE” research cluster of the Bauhaus University Weimar and Technical University Berlin.

Lecture Hybrid Heritage @ Bauhaus University Weimar & Technical University Berlin, Conference Practices of Inheritance, Metaphors, Materializations, Power Constellations, Tempelhof Airport, Berlin, 19 November 2020

DMZpace @ Korean Cultural Center Paris

The Paris exhibition “Negotiating Borders – Real DMZ Project” features Hybrid Space Lab’s DMZpace, a project deploying the potential of the border area as a site of both historical wounds and flourishing nature.

Exhibition DMZpace @ Korean Cultural Center, Paris, 10 September-6 November 2020

 

Hybrid Heritage @ Film University Babelsberg

Hybrid Space Lab contributes to the International Master Class Artistic Research, pioneering developments of immersive 360° concepts and narratives.

Lecture Hybrid Heritage @ Film University Babelsberg, Master Class Artistic Research, Potsdam, Germany, 7-18 September 2020

Deep Space @ Deutschlandfunk Kultur

The Valle de los Caídos is highly controversial as a memorial of the fallen of the Spanish Civil War: for a long time, it mainly served the glorification of the dictator Franco. The “Deep Space” project wants to show visitors also the site’s dark side.

Interview, Eckhard Roelcke, journalist @ Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Germany, 8 August 2020

Deep Space @ Tagesspiegel

Berlin’s contribution to the debate on monuments: What to do with Franco’s mausoleum?
Do not destroy it, says the Berlin office Hybrid Space Lab as it lays out ideas for a new way of dealing with the controversial Franco memorial in the “Valley of the Fallen” near Madrid.

Publication, Bernhard Schultz, journalist @ Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 16 July 2020

Deep Space @ TAZ

Monuments are Vehicles of Meaning. Elizabeth Sikiaridi and Frans Vogelaar research how to negotiate monuments’ narratives and how to bring criticism.

Interview, Brigitte Werneburg, journalist @ taz, Germany, 14 July 2020

Hybrid Heritage @ AMPS University Kent

As in the 21st Century the world develops a deeper understanding of heritage, digital technology is ever more present in our reading of the past. Hybrid Space Lab’s lecture Hybrid Heritage addresses how to best unlock the unique potentialities of this interdisciplinary and technological moment.

Lecture Hybrid Heritage @ AMPS [Architecture, Media, Politics, Society] Conference, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, 29-30 June 2020

The Cross @ Humboldt Forum

Professor Sharon Macdonald, Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Social Anthropology at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, refers to our Humboldt Jungle project as an example and an inspiration for the creative appropriation and transformation of the Humboldt Forum.

Article,  Professor Sharon Macdonald, Alexander von Humboldt Professor of Social Anthropology @ Humboldt Forum, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of European Ethnology, Berlin, 15 June 2020

DMZpace @ Yeonnamjang Gallery Seoul

Featured in the “DMZ Landscape: Cheorwon” exhibition in Seoul, Hybrid Space Lab’s DMZpace project unfolds the potential of the no-man’s-land border area to overcome the tension between its historical wounds and the thriving nature. Opening up scenarios for reconciliation and dialogue through the mediation of a now lush natural biotope, the project unveils the contradictions hidden behind the visible landscape at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

Exhibition DMZpace @ Yeonnamjang Underground Gallery, Seoul, 2 May-17 May 2020

Future Heritage @ Points of View

What would it be like if a volcano erupted next to the new Berlin City Palace?
If huge trees grew there, exotic plants proliferated and a waterfall cascaded down?

Publication Future Heritage @ Points of View, DASA Museum, Dortmund, Germany 1 March 2020

Humbolt Jungle & Humboldt Volcano @ Publisher Querido

Humboldt Jungle and Humboldt Volcano are mentioned by author and historian Merlijn Schoonenboom in the book on identity “Een kleine geschiedenis van de grootse Duitse worsteling”.

Publication A small history of the great German struggle, Merlijn Schoonenboom @ Querido Publishers, Amsterdam, 5 December 2019

Deep Space @ ARA Catalan Newspaper

The Valley of the Fallen without Franco: the fate of the other 33,847 dead”
This is the title of the article by journalist Sílvia Marimom Molas in the Catalan Newspaper ARA on the future of the Valle de los Caídos with an interview on Deep Space.

Article The Valley of the Fallen without Franco: the fate of the other 33,847 dead, Sílvia Marimom @ Catalan Newspaper ARA, Barcelona, 23 November 2019 

Make Space @ Mart Stam Stiftung

The Mart Stam Stiftung frequently organizes symposia in cooperation with the Royal Dutch Embassy of Berlin. The aim is to create a dialog on interdisciplinary themes in the field of art and design in the Netherlands and Germany by juxtaposing cultural differences.

Poster @ Mart Stam Stiftung, Berlin, 15 November 2019

Humboldt Volcano @ A small history of the biggest German struggle

Hybrid Space Lab plan is in line with the undoubtedly most important question for contemporary cultural identity: the relationship between tradition and innovation. Their idea of ​​a growing green world around the castle is the portrayal of the idea of ​​tradition as a dynamic phenomenon.

Publication A small history of the biggest German struggle, Merlijn Schoonenboom @ Querido Publishers, Amsterdam, November 2019

Deep Space @ HuffPost

In the article “Without Franco, what to do with the colossal Valle de los Caídos?” for HuffPost, Anthony Berthelier describes the project “Deep Space: re-signifying Valle de los Caídos” with its creative approach for addressing controversial history and contested heritage.

Article Without Franco, what to do with the colossal Valle de los Caídos?, Anthony Berthelier @ HuffPost , France, 24 October 2019

Humboldt Jungle @ Der Tagesspiegel

The main Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, published an article on the Green party questions on the implementation of the Humboldt Jungle raised in the Bundestag, the German parliament.
“And in order to honor their name, the Greens asked for the “state of the considerations (…), a greenery, a so-called Humboldt Jungle, to be installed”. The brief reply: “Further measures on the facades are not provided.”

Publication Humboldt costs, yes and no @ Der Tagesspiegel, Germany, 19 July 2019

projects

Future Cultural Space

What are engaging, inclusive, and sustainable hybrid formats and spaces for art and culture?
For the German Federal Cultural Fund Hybrid Space Lab developed a workshop on the hybrid future of culture.

Hybrid Workshop “The Future is not Digital. Hybrid is the Future!” @ Kulturstiftung des Bundes, HoloLab – dive in Program for Digital Interaction, Halle an der Saale, Germany 14 October 2021

Re-Charting Places

In our globalized world the accelerating speed of socio-political and cultural change collides with the longue-durée of heritage sites and territories. As social and political contexts around places with a public meaning change, controversies often arise.

Publication Re-Charting Places @ Contested Spaces – Concerted Projects: Designs for Vulnerable Memories, Lettera Ventidue Edizioni, Syracuse, Italy, April 2021

Co-Creating Hybrid Culture

For the German Federal Cultural Foundation Hybrid Space Lab developed Co-Creating Hybrid Culture that addresses the augmenting of physical cultural sites and practices through digital spaces via transdisciplinary co-creating events.

Keynote Future Cultural Space @ Kulturstiftung des Bundes, HoloLab – dive in Program for Digital Interaction, Halle an der Saale, Germany, 16.00 – 17.00, 22 September 2021
Research & Concept @ German Federal Cultural Foundation, Halle an der Saale, Germany, 2021

Voiced Space

Human activity and its far-reaching interactions have always transformed territories by moving people, plants, goods and animals. As such, territories have become richly stratified – and interactions are always mutual and two-way. Countries and cities projecting their influence elsewhere have, in turn, been transformed by external inputs.
Voiced Space is conceptualized by Hybrid Space Lab for Nieuwe Instituut the Dutch institute for Architecture, Design and Digital Culture.

Lectures, Workshops & Conference International Research Program @ Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, 2019~2022
Lecture @ Media Architecture Biennial 2020, Amsterdam, 29 June-3 Juli 2020
Lecture & Workshop @ Media Architecture Biennial 2021, Amsterdam, 27 June-2 July 2021

Tools for Heritage

By unlocking the potential laying at the intersection between arts, technology, memory studies and sciences, Deep Space has cracked open the interwoven, historically painful meanings of the controversial monument Valle de los Caídos, envisioning its possible futures, once Franco’s remains will be exhumed from the site.

Exhibition, Lecture & Discussion 5 June 2019 @ Goethe Institut, Madrid, 5 June 2019

Crossover Diplomacy

Article “Creative Crossovers: Negotiating Past and Future” in the University of Southern California Public Diplomacy Magazine issue summer 2019.Monuments stand as a tangible testimony to what is untouchable: memory and history in their collective dimension.As vehicles of meaning, monuments are ambassadors affecting the public negotiation of narratives

Article Creative Crossovers @ Public Diplomacy Magazine, University of Southern California, USC Annenberg, USC Centre on Public Diplomacy, USC Masters of Public Diplomacy Program, USA, 7 June 2019

Hybrid Heritage

How can design research contribute to the collective processing of contested heritage?How to re-signify traditional physical monuments and heritage with the help of creative visions and hybrid (combined physical and digital) tools?
Voiced Space is conceptualized by Hybrid Space Lab for Nieuwe Instituut the Dutch institute for Architecture, Design and Digital Culture.

Research @ Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam, 2019

DMZpace

As a consequence of the more than 65 years long near absence of human activity, the Korean DMZ  land strip has become a verdant 984 square kilometers nature reserve where endangered flora and fauna species had the chance to regain space.
The Korean DMZ has become a testimony to unintentional beauty. Thriving vegetation and undisturbed wildlife now cover the painful, conflict-born void along the military demarcation.
Over the last few years, it has gathered international attention due to its symbolic value as well as to individual and bilateral bids by North and South Korea securing UNESCO Biosphere status for areas of the DMZ.

Workshop DMZpace @ DMZ, CCL, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, 30 May-3 June 2010Exhibition @ Yeonnamjang Gallery Seoul, 2 May-17 May 2020
Exhibition @ Korean Cultural Center Paris, 10 September-6 November 2020

Deep Space

Deep Space is a long-term investigative program initiated to deal with politics of memory, controversial space and monuments, digitalization and heritage.
Deep Space: re-signifying Valle de los Caídos aims at developing creative processes, concepts, and ideas that can break through and transform the symbolic power of the place.

Workshop Deep Space: re-signifying Valle de los Caídos @ Medialab Prado & Valle de los Caídos, Madrid, 25-27 October 2018
Opening, Exhibition, Lecture & Discussion Lost Memory – Recovered Memory @ Goethe Institut & Fundación Pablo Iglesias, Madrid, 5 June 2019
Workshop & Lecture @ ISEA 2022 Symposium “Possibilities” Heritage and Futures, Centre de Cultura Contemporània, Barcelona, 12 June & 14 2022

Fabric

The documentary Fabric presents the history of the building complex that houses today the Athens School of Fine Arts, one the main venues of documenta 14 in Athens. It also narrates a family history that spans more than over 100 years and starting in Cappadocia in Central Anatolia, continues via Beirut and Istanbul (Constantinople) arriving in Athens in the 1920ies.

Documentary Video Fabric @ documenta 14, Athens School of Fine Arts, Peiraios Street 256, Athens, 8 April-17 July 2017

Humboldt Volcano

A vertical jungle in a greenhouse pavilion clings to the Berlin Humboldt Forum. A trail leads from the underground to the roof of the Humboldt Forum, opening up stacked gardens and pop-up restaurants dedicated respectively to world flora and world cuisines.