Urban Stage: Construction Explained
A scaled-down version of the future roof terrace on the forecourt of ZK/U Berlin.
2021 - 2023
The Urban Stage has been an ongoing spatial and programmatic experiment at ZK/U since 2021. Across four consecutive iterations, it has developed in parallel with the transformation of the building: from a temporary, scaled-down version of the future rooftop terrace on the forecourt, through the first activation of the new roof, to a permanently expanding infrastructure for artistic production, neighbourhood encounters and collective assemblies. The Urban Stage is not conceived as a finished piece of architecture, but as a living lab that is continuously developed through use, experimentation and collective appropriation. Artists, designers, urban researchers, local initiatives and neighbours test new forms of gathering, climate adaptation, urban ecology and public cultural production here. Each phase draws on the experiences, materials and relationships of the previous one and translates them into a new spatial constellation: Construction Explained, Commons Cosmodrome, The View and Assembly thus mark four moments within an open-ended process of transformation.
During the renovation and extension of ZK/U, the future rooftop terrace already began to take shape at ground level. Installed on the forecourt of the building, BauSchilderung was a scaled-down, temporary version of the planned Urban Stage: an open structure made from containers, scaffolding and event technology that turned the ongoing construction process into a public and collective experiment.
The German title combines the words Bauschild—the sign commonly used to announce a construction project—and Schilderung, meaning a description or narration. Rather than presenting an idealised image of a finished building, BauSchilderung invited artists, neighbours, urban practitioners and future users to explore what the new spaces could become through actual projects, workshops and encounters. It functioned as a living lab in which architectural transformation was not only explained but actively rehearsed.
From 2021 to 2023, the temporary structure became a stage, workshop, meeting place and urban laboratory. Climate-resilient futures for the surrounding Stadtgarten Moabit were investigated through the KlimaKunstLabor; the MoaBees prepared for their future home on the roof; ZK/U residents developed artistic interventions; and neighbourhood initiatives tested new formats for gathering, learning and cultural production. Projects such as Picnic FM, Towards a Shimmer on the Horizon, Rehearsing Moves on Hazy Paths, the Berliner Fahrradmarkt and the participatory ZK/U Biotop filled the period of construction with shared activity.
Scene Design and production: Miodrag Kuč, ZK/U
Architecture and construction: Jan Körbes, reFUNC
Programming: Lara Murray, Annika Schieck, Stefan Koderisch, Andrea Götzke, MoaBees, Earl Records, Kollektiv Untergang
Selected projects: KlimaKunstLabor 21 and 22, Picnic FM, Towards a Shimmer on the Horizon, Berliner Fahrradmarkt, Rehearsing Moves on Hazy Paths, ZK/U Biotop
‘BauSchilderung’ was part of the Urbane Praxis initiative (campus facility) 2021.
The initiative Urbane Praxis was funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe within the framework of DRAUSSENSTADT in 2021.