Algorithmic Ecologies

Environmental events such as increased rainfall and heat waves are becoming pressing issues for both human and nonhuman residents – globally, and in Berlin. In response, the two-day hack at the ZK/U Berlin - Center for Art and Urbanistics will prototype artistic installations that deepen our understanding of rainwater and rainfall patterns, and their impacts on urban life.

Bringing together students from the Freie Universität, the Technische Universität and the University of Arts in Berlin, as well as the ZK/U community and local citizens, the event aims to collaboratively co-design rainwater installations that will be showcased on the platform of the former cargo station in Moabit. By incorporating sensors, data translations and visualisations, and interactive experiences, participants will explore the potential of open source soft- and hardware as critical design tools for shaping urban spaces.

From the droplet on the roof, through the rainwater downpipe, into the barrel, and from there into the garden – from abundance to absence: These site-specific interventions help to build ecological literacy among both active participants and the wider public, proposing possible prototypes and pathways for near-future human-nonhuman companionship.

Project partners: FU Berlin (metaLAB), UdK Berlin (Berlin Open Lab + Weizenbaum Institute), TU Berlin (Einstein Center Digital Future), ZK/U Berlin – Center for Art and Urbanistics.

Funded under the Excellence Strategy of the Federal Government and the Länder by the Berlin University Alliance/ TD-Lab Funding Program