When we talk about public space, it is the bodily and physical act, the presence and interaction that transforms a space from an open space to a public space. In this workshop, raumlaborberlin discussed with the participants the relations of the self to the common and the public and invented and tried out a series of collective exercises of becoming public. Themes discussed included: conflict, dissent, hosting, generosity, tolerance, agency. Objects were discussed, made as support structures for our being public and the city was explored together in different ways. Ludger Schwarte was present at some of the conversations and actions.

raumlabor operates on the interfaces of architecture, city planning, art and urban intervention. A permanent core of nine people anchors a group of twenty to thirty colleagues, who have set up a Berlin-centred collective network. The present project is run by Markus Bader, Andrea Hofmann, Frauke Gerstenberg and Miriam Kassens. In ever new configurations they completely transform urban spaces – surpassing the usual expectations and visions. They divert programmatic narratives into urban voids, introducing new atmospheres and creating a sense of as yet untapped potential.