Between heaven and earth—floating in the air, almost weightless. A place to hang out, disconnect, relax, and unwind. Rustling leaves, play of light, birdsong.
The floating surface is a spot on the school grounds that has nothing in common with the classrooms: anyone who comes here trades stuffy air, noise, chaos, and artificial light for fresh air, calm, sunshine, and peace.
The idea for the floating surface emerged from the wishes of the students—when asked where they prefer to learn, three out of seven answered: outdoors. Why? Because it is quiet there, because you can concentrate better in nature, because nobody distracts or disturbs you, because the air is fresher, because the sun shines, because I just like being outside.
The task was therefore to create an outdoor place where they can retreat to learn and relax—together. Only when the students actively participate in the process of developing and making the space can the result be something they value, treat with respect, and that fully reflects their ideas.
Over a total of nine workshop days, two students first built a 3.20 m Ă— 3.00 m wooden frame, then measured and stretched 1,760 meters of polypropylene split rope across it, and finally wove a 2.50 m Ă— 2.50 m surface using two different techniques. The participants were Henrike Mietzelfeld and Johanna Reschke from the upper school of the Montessori Community School in Berlin-Buch.
To give the participants a keepsake and to show the other students how many hours of work their peers invested in creating this new learning space, the entire process was photographed and turned into a stop-motion film.
