Author: Baumhaus Berlin

• Last week started out with a special work help session to clear out the back room and most of the front room to make room for new building materials and prototype designs.  A bunch of really cool people showed up to help including Sam, a refugee engineering student from Syria. After our cleaning action we went up stairs to enjoy a nice home cooked meal.

• We also had a couple of surprise visits. The first was from the company that is (still…) installing the windows. The second surprise visitor was Björn who signed up to volunteer some time helping to build the Baumhaus. As it turned out, Björn not only signed up to volunteer through the Vostel online volunteering platform, but he also happened to be a programmer for Vostel! We spent some nice time getting to know each other while we worked on optimizing the Baumhaus’ posting online. Check out Vostel along with the many projects to volunteer for across Berlin.

• Our third Vertical & Permaculture Gardening meeting was a smashing success and a lot of fun (Sarah from the Wedding Space mixed some of her famously delicious cocktails). We identified and started planning the 3 systems we will use to make the walls of the Baumhaus alive with plants: 1) a hydroponic system that uses no soil, the roots of the plants get water with nutrients, 2) an aquaponic system, the same as the hydroponic except the water cycle includes fish in a fish tank that produce nutrients for the plants and, 3) a modular soil system with an integrated worm and compost design. At our next meeting on February 11, we will begin planning each prototype in detail and begin building each throughout the month.

• Part of our lighting team, Elena, Matthias, Vladimir and Scott met 2 times last week to continue developing our second major lighting installation prototype, “The Orchid Lamp”. We spent Thursday sorting out the technical design of the electronics and structural support of the wireframe. On Sunday we wired the electronics to the frame and reinforced the frame.  Our skinned functional prototype is now on display at Rathaus Kleinmachnow but it will be at the art loft berlin during the next “Sunday Afternoon” networking event for change makers and active neighbours from all across Berlin on 28 Feb.

• On Thursday evening we had an amazing session of the “Improvisational Groove Orchestra”, a great improv singing event. Sarah from the Wedding Space, provided more tasty support at the bar in between rounds… Stay tuned for the audio recordings, there is some really nice music in there! The next session is Thursday Feb 4.

• This week we will spend preparing the last planning details and purchasing building materials to order next week. We also finalized the contract with our plumber so that work can begin soon…

Check our calendar on our website or stop by every Thursday between 17:00 and 19:30 for our open office hours to see how to get involved or support the project!

More progress with the evolution of the Seminar Room, lighting installations and design of the tree house level:

– The tree house level is now evolved to take on the characteristics of an Atrium!

– We have our first full scale prototype for the flower lighting fixture in the main room.

– The back room is taking shape as we prepare for the installation of the sound-proof ceiling.

Ways you can get involved in building the Baumhaus space

Resources and help we need

When: Monday 25.01, 16:30 – 19:00

Where: Baumhaus Berlin, Gerichtstrasse 23, Front House, Ground Floor

Just in time for Winter! Come along and learn how to fix your own bike in a special workshop with Klaus. Works on a donation basis.

There are also Bike Repair Self Help Sessions at Das Baumhaus every Monday from 16:30 – 18:30.

Where: Baumhaus Berlin Gerichtstraße 23, 13347 Berlin, Front House, Ground Floor.

When: Tuesday 19.01, 12-00 – 16:00

We are entering a very exciting period of building the Baumhaus and need a few extra hands to prepare the space for construction! This coming Tuesday (19.01) at 12pm we will be preparing the back room. We will be moving materials in the space as well as organising other things in the space in a more efficient way. Afterwards, there’ll be the chance to have a chat, ask questions about the Baumhaus project and find out other ways to get involved! At the end we will be cooking together and sharing a nice meal.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Facebook Event

As we enter an exciting period of building the space, we are looking for some extra help with our communications (particularly keeping our social media platforms up to date), as well as people to participate in the designing and building of the space and to manage smaller projects within our network. We are especially looking for native German speakers or those with very good writing and speaking skills in German.

Check out other internship opportunities available with us here.

We’ve got a busy few weeks coming up at Das Baumhaus! With some exciting news about planning permission for the space, we will be diving into design development and prototyping everything from work-stations and furniture to lighting and vertical gardens. We will also be communicating with potential sponsors. If you want to get involved, check our building page to see what opportunities we have posted. You can also check out our ‘resources and help we need’ page.

Tomorrow (Thursday 07.01) from 6:00 – 9.30pm we are having a meeting in the Baumhaus space that will deal with the aesthetic and technical design of the lighting for Das Baumhaus. Come along and get involved! (Gerichtstr. 23, front house, ground floor)

Help to spread the Holiday cheer on Saturday the 19th at our Baumhaus Holiday Party! Come by to Gerichtstrasse 23 for yoga, cookies, jazz, poetry, cocktails, dancing and a whole lot more. This will be our last event of 2015, come meet some of the interesting people in our network.

The following photos are from our new event series ‘Sunday Afternoon’ at the art loft berlin. The space looked magical, complete with Christmas baubles, pinecones and flickering candelabra and jazzy sounds from Berlin jazz trio “appletrio” kept the good energy flowing all afternoon long. We sipped gin and tonics and feasted on treats of homemade bread canapés and beetroot quiche, provided by Gin Events. Laughter and inspiring conversation could be heard all around. A cosy chill-out with old and new friends – exactly how a Sunday afternoon should be spent!

Catch “Sunday Afternoon” #2, the second instalment of a very special collaborative neighbourhood event series, in the new year.

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Where: Das Baumhaus, Gerichtstrasse 23 13347 Berlin, Front House, 3rd Floor (Ring for ‘Bolden and Wohlert’)

When: 19th December, 5.30pm

Come by for some yoga, a chat, a cookie, making plans for next year and later listen to poetry in words and sound with the poets-group of the Baumhaus project “Lyrik im Baumhaus”. After this there will be drinks in The Wedding Space across the hall.

Texts (in german) by Mareen Bruns, Julia Dorsch, Maria Marggraf, Arne Schmelzer and Christine Zeides, Music by Leonhard Marggraf (piano) and Noam Roth (guitar)

15.00 Yoga

17.30 Coffee & Cookies

19.30 Poetry & Jazz-Duo

21:30 Chill and Lounge and Drinks at The Wedding Space

We look forward to seeing you!

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/705783756224136/