Hayo Gebauer is an industrial designer whose works reflect on the mundane object. A quirky fascination for order or subtle references to known archetypes are among the shape defining details. He lives in Berlin and works on self-initiated and commissioned projects.
This museum of photography is really great, and the highlight for me after the inspiring exhibitions is the good coffee and great cakes at their coffee place.
I find myself there almost every second week for a drink and a slice of cake. The food is perfect, the ambiance is nice and it's really alive as a lot of people are coming directly from the running exhibition. At the entrance you can find an interesting bookstore and the best photoautomat of the city right outside.
Last but not least, it's only some meters from the Helmut Newton Fondation ( which doesn't have a nice coffee place itself yet ).
What’s not to like about The Sammlung Boros Collection? It’s a brilliant private collection of contemporary art held captive in a monstrous, symmetrical ex-Nazi bunker with two metre thick concrete walls, dominating an area of a thousand metres squared. It also doubled as a hardcore techno and fetish club in the ‘90s, of which traces linger in every corner.
A green oasis wedged between the continuous blocks of apartments, this Cemetery provides a place to be alone or take sleeping kids. I love how from the front it looks slightly macabre and a rigid with it's iron gate. But if you dare to enter its a fantastic place to escape and think.
There's a battle going on locally about adding a building inside the ground to help fund the archive and maintenance of the site. The Chair Anke Reuther feels the park is being disrespected with children playing on the headstones and people using it as a place for picnics.
Whilst i don't know the in's and out's I love seeing this beautiful 'life cycle' playing out under the trees (which have probably seen it all before). I love that people use a cemetery for living and in our ever crowded cities a green space is being claimed by the community. I do feel there is a hushed respect that i don't see in other parks which gives the place a reflective mood. Personally another building would ruin the magic of the place.
Perhaps some more input from the people who use it could be the key? Or even a re-examination of the inscription above the gate:
Make life
good and beautiful here,
no other world is,
no resurrection.
Blake & Vargas is side project of our Studio - a showroom for contemporary art with a diverse program of exhibitions & performance, that reflects the complexity of Berlin’s art scene. The next exhibition season starts again in January 2020. Also check out the website for our latest editions.
Favorite italian restaurant, great simple food, friendly staff and the coolest atmosphere (vinil music only). Smart to make a reservation before you go.