Date: 24. April 2025
Location: Aula, weißensee kunsthochschule berlin, Bühringstr. 20, 13086 Berlin
The COHABITATION – Transformation of Spaces symposium marks the beginning of an interdisciplinary studio project in the greenlab, exploring the intersection of nature, urban life, and community. At the same time, it is the second annual Sustainability Day of weißensee kunsthochschule berlin. In the face of intensifying climate challenges and urban growth, the event examines how architecture, urban planning, and design can foster resilient and sustainable living spaces. Through talks by experts from science, art, and urban planning, the symposium will address key questions: How can green infrastructure and material innovations reshape cities? What role do participatory approaches and local value chains play in sustainable urban development? The symposium invites participants to envision new strategies for environmentally conscious, livable cities—from our campus to Berlin’s evolving urban landscape.
SPEAKERS
Prof. Folke Köbberling
Nina Pawlicki
Yolanda Leask
Marc Page
Gilly Karjevsky
Dr. Boris Reyher
Felix Dietsch
Rahel Jacob
Prof. Dr. Aletta Bonn
Dr. Dörte Martens
Gaia Reiner & Elisa Machmer
Carlo Melerski
Moderation: Jasmin Jouhar
Opening Speech: Dr. Angelika Richter
PROGRAMME
9.45: Welcome
Dr. Angelika Richter, Head of the College, weißensee kunsthochschule berlin
Jasmin Jouhar, Independent Journalist and Moderator
Panel 1: Resource to Resource
10.00: Wool Building
Prof. Folke Köbberling
Visual Artist and Director of the Institute for Architecture-Related Art, Technical University of
Braunschweig
10.20: Cloudwool: why do we need industrial-scale solutions to the European wool crisis?
Yolanda Leask
Textile Design and Design Research
10.30: Process Matters!
Dr. Nina Pawlicki
Architect, Natural Building Lab, Technical University of Berlin
10.50: Recycling of Plaster
Marc Page
Designer
11.00: Panel Discussion
11.30: Coffee / Tea
Panel 2: Participation & Transformation
12.00: Site is Half the Work – urban curating after the planetary turn
Gilly Karjevsky
Independent Urban Curator and Educator
12.20: Mobile Neighbourhood
Rahel Jacob
Designer, Mitkunstzentrale, Haus der Materialisierung
12.30: Lightweight Structures – Principles and Practices from Frei Otto to State-of-the-Art Designs
Dr. Ing. Boris Reyher
Construction engineer and Managing Director, schlaich bergermann partner
12.50: Spatial Design + The Positive Vision
Felix Dietsch
Spatial Designer, Positif Studio
13.00: Panel Discussion
13.30: Lunch Break
Panel 3: Biodiversity & City
14.30: Berlin Urban Nature Pact - for a vibrant, happy Berlin!
Prof. Dr. Aletta Bonn
State Commissioner for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management
14.50: The Integration of Wildlife in Urban Spaces
Carlo Melerski
Designer, Greenscape System
15.00: Urban Nature for Education and Health
Dr. Dörte Martens
Senate Department for Urban Mobility, Transport, Climate Action and the Environment
15.20: kiez_colours: Exploring Urban Vegetation
Gaia Reiner
Designer
Elisa Machmer
Interaction Designer
15.30: Panel Discussion
16.00: End
greenlab would like to thank its partners and sponsors for their support of this symposium:
Märkisches Landbrot, Preußenquelle, Manufaktur KAHLA/Thüringen and weißensee kunsthochschule
berlin
SPEAKERS’ INFOS
Panel 1: Resource to Resource
Wool Building
Prof. Folke KöbberlingÂ
Artist and Director of the Institute for Architecture-Related Art, Technical University of Braunschweig
CV
Folke Köbberling is a visual artist and, since 2016, a professor of artistic design and director of the Institute for Architecture-Related Art at the Technical University of Braunschweig.Â
Folke Köbberling develops intervention models for urban spaces, repurposing existing structures and thus challenging the usual approach to urban architecture in a subtle, often humorous way. Concepts of communal living are examined as well as capitalist-driven urban structures of living, working, and mobility. In recent years, she has been working with raw wool. In her artistic practice, she uses this supposed waste product in large quantities and develops architectural situations from it.Â
She has participated in numerous international solo and group exhibitions, including the Martin Gropius Bau/Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, ZKM Karlsruhe, Lentos Museum, and the Ruhrtriennale 2012. Solo exhibitions include the Jack Hanley Gallery, NYC, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the Kunstverein Kassel, the Museo El Eco in Mexico City (2017), and the Kunstverein Wolfsburg (2020). She has taught at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, the Metropolitan University in London, the Berlin University of the Arts, the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and Wayne State University, Michigan, among others.
 Abstract
Folke Köbberling talks about her recently published book, WOLLBAU". "WOLLBAU" combines artistic projects with art-historical and cultural anthropological texts about sheep and wool processing. Although raw wool is a renewable resource with incredibly versatile uses, for several years it has tended to be perceived as a worthless material and disposed of. Folke Köbberling uses this supposed waste product in large quantities and develops architectural situations to create a new perspective on this magnificent fiber material and to anchor it more firmly in architecture, public space, and thus in society. Photographs, experimental setups, and instructions for DIY construction complement the book's interdisciplinary background texts.
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Cloudwool: why we need industrial-scale solutions to the European wool crisis
Yolanda Leask
Textile Designer and Design Researcher
CV
Yolanda Leask is a Berlin-based textile designer-engineer and researcher specializing in nonwoven wool textiles. She studied BA and MA in Textile and Surface Design at weißensee kunsthochschule berlin, where her award-winning project Cloudwool explored circular, monomaterial nonwoven wool textiles. She co-founded Doppelhaus Ltd in 2016 to bring CloudwoolⓇ to market, leading research and development projects with Balenciaga, Volkswagen, and University of the Arts London’s BFTT SME R&D program.
Yolanda’s work focuses on sustainable textile innovation, engineering new techniques for material diversity in mass production. She has deep expertise in wool, nonwoven techniques, material science, and circularity. In 2024, she stepped away from Doppelhaus to focus on research, teaching, and consultancy. She has contributed to the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of World Textiles (forthcoming 2025) and co-authored Talking Wool with Prof. Dr. Lucy Norris and Hanna Wiesener. Currently, she is an independent textile R&D consultant and guest lecturer at weißensee kunsthochschule berlin.
Abstract
European wool is abundant yet drastically undervalued, with coarse grades often discarded due to low prices and systemic barriers. Once central to fashion, wool now makes up just 1% of new textiles, while synthetics make up 60%. Despite its durability, renewability, and local availability, wool faces challenges—from costly certifications and inaccessible investment to persistent myths about comfort and ethics. This presentation explores why wool deserves a comeback and introduces Cloudwool®, a scalable, nonwoven fabric made from low-value wool using clean, efficient technology. It highlights the need to rethink sustainability beyond small-scale craft, and how policy, funding, and cultural narratives must evolve to support innovative, circular textile solutions.
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Process Matters!
Dr. Nina Pawlicki
Architect, Natural Building Lab, Technical University Berlin
CV
Dr. Nina Pawlicki is an architect and founding member of the Natural Building Lab at TU Berlin. Within her work, she is facilitating hands-on and common good-oriented projects at the interface between academia and non-academic partners. As part of various collectives and institutions, she seeks to develop contextual, sustainable, and locally appropriate strategies and built prototypes that follow circular principles of use, construction and materials.
Abstract
The Natural Building Lab generates knowledge and prototypes for the built environment in a post-fossil society. In the face of planetary boundaries, we are convinced that climate- and resource-adapted, circular building systems using regenerative, renewable or reused building materials enable a forward-looking building culture. The lecture will present the principles, challenges and our philosophy of planning and building with reused building materials based on solutions that we are currently developing in the real-world laboratory format in various project contexts. The focus is not only on the reuse of resources that have already been used, but also on creating the missing interfaces between research and planning practice with the aim of organizing value chains in a circular manner.Â
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Recycling of Plaster
Marc Roman Page
independent designer, graduate of weißensee kunsthochschule berlin
CV
Marc Roman`s work focuses on the interface between matter and manufacturing methods. While studying the raw properties of materials and the distinctive qualities they provide, he is seeking new explorative approaches with which to process them. With a master craftsman’s diploma as a joiner, Marc Roman recently graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Product Design at weißensee kunsthochschule berlin.
Abstract
The planned phase-out of coal in 2038 is steadily reducing the availability of FGD (flue gas desulfurization) gypsum, a crucial secondary material for the gypsum processing industry. This highlights the urgent need to reassess the single-use approach to gypsum as a building material while simultaneously strengthening its circular usability as recycled gypsum.
The lecture provides insight into the development of the Bachelor's thesis "Recasting Aesthetics," which explores the aesthetic and functional potential of recycled gypsum. The project examines how gypsum can be utilized within a circular design context.
A particular focus is placed on mixing gypsum with cellulose fibres, enhancing both its stability and potential for durable, versatile surfaces. The project demonstrates how (recycled) gypsum can shift from a disposable material to a valuable design element.
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Panel 2: Participation & Transformation
Site is Half the Work – urban curating after the planetary turn
Gilly Karjewsky
Independent Urban Curator and Educator
CV
Gilly Karjevsky is an urban curator researching the intersection of ecology, ethics of care, and radical collectivity. Between 2022 and 2024, Gilly was serving as a guest professor for eco-social design at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg (HFBK), where she curated »ALLES IST SCHON DA« – a gathering repositioning urban curating in Hamburg. After this she served on the jury for the current Stadtkuratorin program. Gilly is a founding member of Floating e.V. where she curated the Climate Care research festival, bringing theory and practice to the natureculture learning site of Floating University Berlin. From 2010 to 2021, Gilly co-directed 72 Hour Urban Action, a real-time architecture competition recently summarised in a monograph published by ARCH+. An alumna of Central Saint Martins in London, Gilly holds an MA in Narrative Environments (2008). She continues to engage with the Spatial Practices program as a lecturer, advising on incorporating ecological ethics of care into the curriculum. Since 2021, she has also lectured at Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen at the Bodensee, mentoring the student-led Seekult arts festival. Gilly's recent writings include »Collective Autotheory« in New Alphabet School #21: Practices of Knowledge Production in Art, Activism, and Collective Research, »Care for Cities« in Expanding Academy Reader #3 at the University of Antwerp, and »Climate Care – A Curriculum for Urban Practice« in Radicalizing Care: Feminist and Queer Activism in Curating, edited by Elke Krasny and Angelika Fitz.
Abstract
The planetary poses a particular challenge for urban curators, namely that of how to care for sites and curate on sites from a cosmo-local perspective? How to address questions of scale, geo-politics and regional environmental challenges, in particular in densely urbanized areas? Earthcare and the program of maintenance may offer some avenues for inhabiting, observing and curating on sites while cross-pollinating between sites and the humans who care for them. The lecture will be drawing on programs that emerged from their immediate contexts: Jardin Essentiel – a public garden in Brussels with medicinal and aromatic herbs that hosted two months of experimental design and artistic interventions in 2016, and climate care – a festival for theory and practice rooted at the Floating University Berlin (2019-2023). These projects ask us to review how we care for sites after the planetary turn, and which aesthetic sensibilities and imaginative political actions we can rehearse through such curatorial approaches.
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Mobile Neighborhood
Rahel Jacob
Designer, MITKUNSTZENTRALE, House of Statistics
CV
Rahel Jacob completed her bachelor's (2019) and master's (2021) degree in product design at the weißensee kunsthochschule berlin. In her work, she questions the potential of design to have a positive impact on social processes, and tests design strategies for neighborhood structures. Since 2019, Rahel has been active in the »House of Statistics« model project in Berlin, in particular in the »House of Materialization«, the center for climate-friendly resource use. She is a member of the »MITKUNSTZENTRALE«.
Abstract
The bachelor thesis »KiezVehikel« addresses the issue of community building with the people who live in the Berlin district of Neuhohenschönhausen Süd, characterized by its prefabricated buildings. It explores the question of how encounters can be facilitated through design and how joint activities in the neighborhood can be strengthened.
The master's thesis »Das BackVehikel« examines the social dimension of fire and bread. The result is a mobile clay oven that aims to strengthen the community-building character of both. A tool to bring people together to bake and eat together. How can framework conditions be created to get to know
cooking cultures and to question and explore cooking practices and rituals? How can an alternative space be created to form meal communities, promote an exchange of experiences and pass on knowledge?
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Lightweight Structures – Principles and practiced from Frei Otto to state-of-the-art designs
Dr. Ing. Boris Reyher
Construction engineer and Managing Director, schlaich bergermann partner
CV
Boris is a structural engineer and Managing Director at schlaich bergermann partner, where he leads the Berlin office. He received his diploma degree from TU Berlin in civil engineering in 1998 and a Master of Science from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1997. He then worked as a research and teaching associate at TU Berlin and received his PhD in structural engineering in 2005. From 2005 to 2007, Boris worked at Buro Happold Engineers in Bath where he was involved in several high profile sports venue projects such as Aviva Stadium in Dublin and the 2012 Olympic Stadium in London. In 2007, Boris joined schlaich bergermann partner in Berlin where he has directed a wide range of projects ranging from footbridges to skyscrapers.
Abstract
Lightweight structures often transmit a certain fascination due to their striking unity of geometrical form and structural function. They are based on a handful of rather simple principles. The specific project conditions then cause more or less complex shapes. Architect Frei Otto was a pioneer of modern lightweight design, who invented and designed a lot, but actually built little. Nevertheless, his ideas continue to have an impact today in the way he has inspired numerous structural engineers to engage with the principles of lightweight design – among others, schlaich bergermann partner. Today, lightweight structural design is more relevant than ever. Builders need to create the necessary with the least amount of resources and at the lowest possible CO2 footprint. This presentation displays a number of construction projects by schlaich bergermann partner, which ultimately relate back to the ideas of Frei Otto.
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Spatial Design + The Positive Vision
Felix Dietsch
Spatial Designer, Positif Studio
CV
Felix Dietsch is a Spatial Designer with a focus on sustainable architecture and design. After studying in Berlin and Copenhagen, he worked at a Swiss architecture firm, where he led transdisciplinary, user-centered design projects. Since 2023, with POSITIF STUDIO (Luzern/Berlin), he combines spatial design with craftsmanship, design, and art. In addition to his practice, Felix is active in teaching and engaged in international educational and networking projects.
Abstract
What do participation and vision mean in the context of spatial design? In his talk, Felix shares his personal approaches and experiences through two
selected projects in the field of spatial design/architecture and transformation. He explains how a 'positive vision' can serve as a crucial starting point —playing an overarching, inspiring, and identity-shaping role — and how it functions as a guiding principle throughout the planning process.
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Panel 3: Biodiversity & City
Berlin Urban Nature Pact - for a vibrant, happy Berlin!
Prof. Dr. Aletta Bonn
State Commissioner for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management
CV
Aletta Bonn is Professor of Ecosystem Services at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and Head of the Department of Biodiversity and Man at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ as part of the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig. She is also the State Commissioner for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management for Berlin.
Abstract
The Berlin Urban Nature Pact is an ambitious nature conservation programme for global city partnerships to take bold action on biodiversity. The pact aims to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity so that nature in cities around the world can recover for the benefit of people and the planet by 2030. Nature, climate and health are considered together. The lecture explains the goals of the pact and uses current research to show how biodiversity has a positive influence on physical and mental health, and invites you to reflect on the importance of experiencing nature and art.
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The Integration of Wildlife in Urban Spaces
Carlo Melerski
Designer, Greenscape System
CV
Carlo Melerski is a Berlin-based product designer. He studied at weißensee kunsthochschule berlin and spent one semester at NABA in Milan before earning his bachelor's degree in 2024. In addition to developing various projects during his studies, he gained valuable experience in interior, furniture, set, and watch design while working with Heine/Lenz/Zizka and Andreas Bergmann Design. For his bachelor's thesis, he explored the design of urban green spaces and how it can serve as a tool to raise public awareness about the importance and protection of natural habitats.Â
Abstract
In most cities, green spaces are mostly adapted for humans and filled with recreational opportunities that do not take into account the needs of local animal populations. Greenscape System provides a series of modules that create various habitats for animals living in the city. The individual elements
form a system that can not only be a refuge for living creatures, but also offers the opportunity to learn about local wildlife and draw attention to the importance of its preservation. Habitats can be built with the simplest of methods. It is usually enough to leave the natural materials on their own. Stones, sand or clay are perfect breeding grounds for a variety of small creatures. Compostable elements are also an important building material for birds, mammals and insects. Greenscape System offers a way to reuse these materials in a meaningful way by creating important habitats while allowing park users, gardeners and others to participate in the process.
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Urban Nature for Education and Health
Dr. Dörte Martens
Senate Department for Urban Mobility, Transport, Climate Action and the Environment
CV
At the Berlin Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment, Dörte Martens is developing a master plan for education for sustainable development in a participatory manner with stakeholders and administrations. She is also responsible for environmental education facilities and nature experience spaces for children. As an environmental psychologist, Dörte Martens focuses on the impact of spatial environments on health and quality of life. She has been co-editor of the journal Umweltpsychologie since 2017.
Abstract
The positive effect of green spaces on human health has been repeatedly proven by research for years. At least since the Covid-19 pandemic, when many people visited urban green spaces for recreation, their immense importance for urban quality of life has become apparent. Public green spaces can make an important contribution to providing people with environments that promote health and recreation and to striving for environmental justice. Urban green spaces also play a central role in environmental education and education for sustainable development, in order to make complex relationships understandable and tangible for children, adolescents and adults and to develop an identification with their own living environment. Insights into research and implementation will be given.
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kiez_colours: Exploring Urban Vegetation
Gaia Reiner
Designer
Elisa Machmer
Interaction Designer
CV
Gaia Reiner is a textile designer from Berlin. She studied B.A. Textile and Material Design at the weißensee kunsthochschule berlin. In her work, she conceptually explores sustainable design strategies and addresses ecological challenges as well as societal perspectives. In her bachelor's thesis ‘may it rain’, she took a critical look at current rainwear and built up a material archive of biodegradable textiles for rainwear. Among other things, she questioned the weighting of expectations (performance, recyclability, aesthetics, etc.) that we pose to rainwear. During her studies, she was a tutor for the reLab – laboratory for re- and upcycling and took part in meetings of the university's sustainability working group. Gaia Reiner now works as a freelance designer.
Elisa Machmer started vocational training as a Design Assistant at the BEST-Sabel Berufsakademie Berlin, which she completed in 2018. In the same year, she began her bachelor's studies in Product Design at the weißensee kunsthochschule berlin. During her studies, she worked as a tutor in the eLab of the university. After successfully completing her bachelor's degree in 2023, she enrolled for a master's degree in the same department. Her creative work today focuses on Interaction Design. Besides her studies, she works as a student employee in Exhibition Design and develops interactive exhibits for museums and science centers with her team. From the upcoming semester on, she will also be responsible for portfolio advice in the Product Design department.
Abstract
How well do we actually know our immediate natural surroundings? Often, we can't even precisely name the plants that grow in it. Yet many of them even hold unexpected potential for creative use. kiez_colours draws the attention to the dyes contained in plants and their possible applications. The focus here is on exploration rather than outcome, on collecting knowledge and on building a platform for sharing and documenting colour experiments. To facilitate the introduction to working with dye plants, the project website provides various instructions on how to make pigments and paints and how to dye textiles. An overview of local dye plantscomplements the instructions. The results of the user's own experiments can inturn be uploaded to the website's open archive. In addition to the onlineformat, workshops are held as part of the project, enabling personal exchangeand inviting people to experiment together.
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ModerationJasmin Jouhar
Freelance Journalist
Jasmin Jouhar works as a freelance journalist in Berlin. Her topics include design and brands, architecture and interior design. She writes for a variety of German-language trade and consumer media, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the online platform Baunetz, the magazines Schöner Wohnen and AD. She also moderates industry events and is responsible for corporate publishing projects. Jasmin Jouhar is committed to promoting young design with coaching sessions, workshops and lectures, and has been working on the topic of sustainability as a design task for many years.