Calendar 2026
LIVING INFRASTRUCTURE
8 years of Floating University, on-site exhibition
Opening
Thursday, July 2, 6–10pm
Exhibition open
Every Thursday, 6–10pm
Every Sunday, 2–8pm
Floating e.V. opens “LIVING INFRASTRUCTURE” – an on-site exhibition celebrating eight years of experimental learning and cohabitation with the rainwater basin in Kreuzberg. Open throughout the summer, the exhibition unfolds the transformation of a technical rainwater infrastructure into an ongoing eco-social experiment in multi-species living.
Join us on July 2 for the opening with guided tours in German and English, shared food, an immersive audio walk and an outdoor film screening.
Programme
6:00pm: Welcome by Floating e.V.
6:30pm: Guided tours (German & English)
7:30pm: Snacks and drinks
9:30pm: Film screening
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday Floating is open for visitors between 2 and 6pm.
Pedagogies of Care and Design in Batman
A Public Gathering and Report from a Collaborative Journey
3–5pm
With 3 Projects:
Collective Landscape Kitchen Yakıtlı / Zêwa Alîka
Terrestrial Cosmologies: Moving Along Rivers and Mountains
Ecological Threshold Space Amphitheater Workshop
With: Jesko Fezer, Pelin Tan, Sofia Bempeza, Annette Krauss, Merve Gül Özokcu, İbrahim Halil Demirel, Zelal Gezici, Studio Experimental Design – HFBK Hamburg, Art and Communication Practices – Angewandte Wien, Batman University
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday Floating is open for visitors between 2 and 6pm.
6—9pm.
Join us for a friendly gathering around the network and the new ZINE of the Riparian Struggles project.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday Floating is open for visitors between 2 and 6pm.
Sunday 19 July 2026
16:00 – 20:00
You are warmly invited to a research-in-progress exchange around topics of fire ecologies, tending the wild, ancestral knowledges of artmaking and weaving, decolonial restitutions, transhistorical memory, more-than-human kin, and restorative relations to land.
“Now / make room in the mouth / for grassesgrassesgrasses” quotes Layli Long Soldier’s Whereas (2017). Her poem stretches towards living relatives: plants that sit at the very center of many Native American lifeworlds—between material and spoken languages. Imagine these grassesgrassesgrasses woven into baskets as a living archive of culture and ecology, taking on forms of delicacy, strength, utility and ornament. These vessels hold nourishment, seeds, medicine and the stories of ecosystems flourishing under the co-cultivations among humans, animals and elements. Every weaver is also a wildland cultivator. Baskets are an art form connected to the living weaver and their environment.
Celebrated tribal culture keepers Sherrie Smith-Ferri and Silver Galleto from Indigenous Pomo country in California will share stories and creative practices of weaving upon the occasion of the first reunion in over 120 years between Pomo people and an important collection of baskets and regalia held by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. They will share insights from their research visit in dialogue with artists Caitlin Berrigan and Garance Maurer, and with the reeds around the reservoir of Floating University.
You will also be invited to take part in the conversation to share about your own work and research, as we are actively seeking connections for institutional and individual collaborations to move this international project forward and re-establish continuities across historical gaps and living, contemporary art practices.
Floating will propose some refreshments and food. Accessible and open to all bodies. Event in english.
Please RSVP with your interest and access needs by 16 July 2026.
This research exchange and workshop is made possible through the Kulturstiftung des Bundes WAYS Initiation Fund, Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, FWF Austrian Science Fund Richter PEEK project “Cryptocrystalline” led by Caitlin Berrigan, and Floating University.
Diskursive Dinner at 4 tables
Tuesday, July 21st 2026
6 pm
The “Living Summer School” (LSS) is a free program that takes place every year. It is part of non-formal education and brings young people together. Together, they develop new ideas and projects designed to connect different fields and improve their regions.
In doing so, they seek solutions to social and environmental problems. The goal is to act quickly and effectively and to find new paths toward a sustainable society.
LABO BERLIN is part of the Living Summer School 2026 and will take place on July 21 and 22 at the Floating University Berlin.
Table 1 — Learning from and with each other, rather than merely transferring knowledge
Table 2 — X-Disciplinarity: Generalism or Specialization? Instruments of Neoliberalism or Necessary Evil
Table 3 — Matriarchal Design: Knowledge Exchange as a Feminist Statement in a World Built by Men
Table 4 — Global What? On Helping from a Position of Privilege
With: Architektur ohne Grenzen, Architects for Future, Bolwerk, ConstructLab, Feminist Park, humantektur, Klasse Klima, kleine baumeister, Plural Studio, raumlaborberlin, Rasa Weber, Spolka, and slab.team.
The event is open to everyone, though seats at the tables are limited. Please register here
Signs Up! Inclusive Signage and Wayfinding Systems
Wednesday July 22, 2026
1 – 3 pm
The focus is on how wayfinding systems can be designed to be truly understandable for everyone.
This is more than a design detail: good signage provides a sense of safety, ensures no one feels lost or excluded, and visibly shows that a place is made for everyone. Floating University Berlin sees itself as a place for many different people — and therefore needs signage that everyone can understand.
We’ll get hands-on: examining examples of good and bad signage, testing materials and symbols, designing our own signs for Floating, and building first prototypes.
Everyone interested is welcome — designers, architects, visitors, people working at Floating University, and simply the curious.
No prior knowledge is required. With interpretation from German Spoken Language to German Sign Language (DGS).
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
FIREFLY 2026
Sound Festival
Sat, 25.07.2026
4 – 10 pm
16:00 – 20:00 Installation
Axel-Camilla Barratt-Due (new work)
20:00 Live performances
Martin Howse – Fruiting and rotting
Marta Zapparoli – Transductive Grounds
Henrique Fernandes – Water flux
Free admission
The one-day festival Firefly brings together four sound artists and the natureculture learning site of Floating Berlin. Their sound installations and live performances celebrate the extraordinary resilience of the forgotten rainwater retention basin from Tempelhof Airfield, where natural ecosystems are reclaiming the human-made wetland – despite urban pollution in water and air. Taking the terrain’s resilient forces and subtle effects as a point of departure, the artists develop new works that foreground the decomposing artistry of microorganisms, the dynamic presence of rainwater, or the hidden signal ecologies of the electromagnetic spectrum as active agents.
Every Sunday Floating is open for visitors between 2 and 6pm.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
What happens when a city becomes wetter, wilder, and weirder?
Part public art installation, part speculative institution, part temporary agency: BiberAmt asks what it means to govern coexistence in Berlin when water is retained, wetlands expand, and beavers become part of everyday life.
Come in as a temporary member of staff. Review case files. Sort correspondence. Weigh in on flooded pathways, gnawed trees, habitat conflicts, and unclear responsibilities — or just stop by for a coffee.
Opening Hours
Wed – Sat 16:00 – 20:00
Sundays 14:00 – 18:00
BiberAmt opens its doors and invites visitors to come in, take a look at case files on the desk, and consider what it means to work in a changing city.
16:00 – 20:00
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
Through discussion and artistic intervention, the agency opens its cases to the public for knowledge exchange and participation. This session turns its attention to water — what retention, flooding, and saturation actually looks and feels like for a Sponge City.
14:00 – 18:00
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Through discussion and artistic intervention, the agency opens its cases to the public for knowledge exchange and participation. This session is set aside for the speculative stories which stretch across geographies, linking the human and more-than-human worlds from Berlin to the UK.
16:00 – 20:00
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
Through discussion and artistic intervention, the agency opens its cases to the public for knowledge exchange and participation. This session asks what does it mean to share urban space with beavers and other species reshaping Berlin?
14:00 – 18:00
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
An institution closes its doors. Part office, part installation, part something harder to name. Step inside and see what is next.
16:00 – 20:00
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
Every Sunday during the season, Floating site is open to visitors 2–6pm
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
Past Programs
VHS Course
From the vineyards to the retention basin – about the history of the rainwater-retention-basin in Kreuzberg
Date: Saturday, 02.05.2026
Time: 3–6 pm
Course leader: Ute Lindenbeck – artist and educator
This workshop tour invites you to explore the history of a unique urban site together. The retention basin is an engineering structure in which a valuable aquatic ecosystem has established itself over the years. Since 2018, the Floating University has coexisted with the local non-human community, creating an experimental space where city and nature, research and imagination intertwine. Through a guided tour and shared reflections, we observe the fragile interplay between environment and urbanity and ask ourselves: What stories do places like this tell us – and which ones do we wish to carry into the future?
We learn about the historical and current uses of the site and discuss the conflicting future plans intended to develop the area. What role can our engagement play in this, and what does it mean to appropriate spaces in the city – not as property, but as a shared practice in solidarity with its past?
Please bring clothing suitable for the weather.
Please register here: VHS Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
You can also register on the day in person
Meeting point: At the gate of the Floating University
Lilienthalstraße 32, 10965 Berlin
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena.
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena.
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and the presence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, for choreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and for the site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the Choreographic Milieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respective practices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we are all committed to working things out together.
Space for Practice is partially funded by Basisförderung (Department of Culture, Senate of Berlin) for Floating e.V. and otherwise made possible by the collective’s commitment to make it happen.
2,5 days VHS Course
water and resources in Berlin
Wed 20.05., 9 – 16 h, Floating University
Thur 21.05., 9 – 16 h, Tempelhof lakes and Malzfabrik
Fri 22.05., 9 – 13 h, Ökowerk Berlin
Course leader: Ute Lindenbeck – artist and educator
Berlin and rainwater – an invisible yet vital relationship. Most of our drinking water comes from bank filtrat and groundwater, which is fed also by rain. If there is no rain, the city’s water systems come under pressure. During heavy rainfall, however, the sewerage system reaches its limits – with consequences for rivers and canals. Rain is essential for life, yet it is scarcely noticeable in everyday urban life.
In this educational seminar, organised in cooperation with Floating e.V., we embark on an interactive journey of discovery: informative, exploratory, critical and utopian. We approach rainwater as a source of life and an urban challenge – engaging all our senses and perspectives.
Day 1 – Seeing, hearing and feeling water:
We begin at the rainwater retention basin opened by Floating e.V. in Berlin-Kreuzberg. A unique aquatic ecosystem has developed here, right in the heart of the city. We encounter amphibians, algae and micro-organisms – and reflect on our own water consumption in times of global water scarcity. Using artistic and research-based methods, we explore the concept of the ‘sponge city’, a city that does not drain water away, but stores it.
Day 2 – Following the hidden water bodies:
We follow the trail of rainwater beneath Tempelhofer Feld and discover ancient glacial lakes – remnants of the Ice Age, fed by groundwater and rainwater. But they are under threat: falling groundwater levels and sealed surfaces are causing them to dry up. Together, we explore new approaches to water infiltration, such as in the ‘Malzfabrik’, with a new retention basin and an urban biotope. What does it take to save old water bodies – and create new water features?
Day 3 – Waterworks, Change and Visions:
To conclude, we will visit the Ökowerk in Grunewald, the site of Berlin’s first waterworks. Here, we will look back at the technological history of the city’s water supply – and look ahead to possible future scenarios. What does Berlin need to become a ‘sponge city’ that is resilient to climate change? What initiatives exist, and which ones might emerge? We conclude the seminar with a shared vision: what might a Sponge-Berlin look like?
Costs: 35 €
Language: Oral German.
Please register here: vhs@ba-fk.berlin.de
Meeting point: At the gate of the Floating University
Lilienthalstraße 32, 10965 Berlin
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena.
Composting and Soil-Architecture
Sa, May 30, 2026
3 – 6pm
For the past four years, composting has been taking place in the rainwater retention basin at Tempelhof Airport to improve soil quality and boost biodiversity. Which organisms are involved in this process, and how can social actors such as Floating e.V. support them in their work?
Through her long-standing initiative DIE BODEN SCHAFFT, soil scientist Martina Kolarek is committed to promoting better soil management. On this interactive tour of the site, she will showcase the results of the practical work carried out at the Floating University. We will get to know the different soils, their structure and their inhabitants first-hand, and discuss with them our current options for preserving and sustainably developing these valuable habitats.
Please dress for the weather (sun protection or rainwear).
Registration: vhs@ba-fk.berlin.de
Costs: 5 Euro
Workshop-Language: Spoken German
Meeting point: At the gate of Floating e.V.
Lilienthalstraße 32, 10965 Berlin
In cooperation with VHS Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and thepresence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, forchoreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and forthe site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the ChoreographicMilieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respectivepractices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we areall committed to working things out together.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena
andcompany&Co.
PLANETKULT – Phase 2
8.30 pm
Open-Air Cinema: Silent Running (USA 1972), OmU
Directed by Douglas Turmball, a pioneer of special effects. SILENT RUNNING is regarded as one of the best science fiction films of all time. It is also one of the first films to tackle environmental issues head-on.
In the near future, all plant life on Earth has been destroyed. The last remaining forests float through space inside enormous domes. When the crew of the spaceship fleet is recalled and ordered to blow up the forests, a showdown ensues. One crew member refuses. He is prepared to do anything to prevent the destruction of the last forests.
Legendary soundtrack featuring songs by Joan Baez (Rejoice in the Sun, Silent Running)
andcompany&Co.
PLANETKULT – Phase 2
2 – 9 pm
Featuring: Peter Berz & Helmut Höge in collaboration with filmmaker Vettka Kirillova (Volksakademie), Anja Fiedler (Food Performance), Martina Kolarek (Die Boden schafft), Sophie von Redecker (Ackern gegen das Anthropozän), Ulf Soltau (Gärten des Grauens) and in between, a millet dinner with the cooking brigades.
Admission to the Acker-Akademie is free. Due to limited capacity at the Floating University, advance registration is required.
Due to limited space, please register at planetkult@andco.de
Program booklet download:
www.andco.de/PLANETKULT2_PROGRAMM
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and thepresence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, forchoreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and forthe site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the ChoreographicMilieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respectivepractices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we areall committed to working things out together.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena.
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and thepresence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, forchoreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and forthe site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the ChoreographicMilieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respectivepractices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we areall committed to working things out together.
6.30 – 9pm
“Living through the end”
Lecture and book release “Beekeeping in the End Times” by Larisa Jasarevic
Hosted by Columbia University and Freie Universität Berlin
Swarming against apocalypse
Every hundred years, the angels ask are the bees still swarming? So goes a Bosnian Muslim tale of two angels waiting for the End. This talk starts with a story about the signs of the looming End to grapple with the very idea of “swarming”: what is it, what it feels like, what it does, what it foils, and for whom? The talk touches upon the apian arts of riot that have long fascinated biologists, ecologists, and technologists but goes beyond the common wisdom, following a hunch that swarming is our doing, as much as the bees’, or the angels.’ If the world is to go on. To hear the tale well and to pass it on, to take part in a multispecies riot against apocalypse, would take a flight from the old hives of reason, festering with narrow thinking and bad faith. Mixing notes from beekeeping, ethnography, and Islamic metaphysics with some documentary film footage, this talk absconds from academizing cells to build comb in the open and fill it—not with hope, but with prayer.
learning urbanity – symposium for emerging critical urban studies and practices
How can we challenge hierarchies and (un)learn urban imaginaries rooted in colonial, patriarchal, capitalist, or normative regimes?
Under the title (un)learning urbanity, we would like to join you in revisiting critical and interdisciplinary perspectives on (urban) space. We therefore invite you to join us in exploring (un)learning as a collective and critical process: toward an inclusive, more pluralistic, and more just urban knowledge and corresponding practice.
Through exhibitions, talks, workshops, and other formats, the symposium brings a broad spectrum of voices into dialogue and seeks to dissolve the rigid hierarchies between ‘researcher’ and ‘practitioner,’ ‘academic’ and ‘activist’. You can find the program at https://researching-urbanity.org The languages of the event are German and English. Participation in the symposium is open to everyone and free of charge – the initiative welcomes donations!
Every Sunday Floating is open for visitors between 2 and 6pm.
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and thepresence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, forchoreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and forthe site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the ChoreographicMilieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respectivepractices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we areall committed to working things out together.
4-7 PM Workshop in cooperation with KOLLEKTIV STICKEN in Floating
Hidden Threads is our new neighbourhood project exploring a largely forgotten chapter of Berlin’s history: the KZ Columbia and the forced labour camps once located on today’s Tempelhofer Feld. Through a participatory process, the project connects research and individual stories with collective memory and artistic protest.
In April, we started our first workshop: With artists from THIKWA workshop, we were following the hidden threads in our neighbourhood. Spontaneously, we were able to visit the basement of the Bockbrauerei, where the Telefunken AG forced laborers to work for their arms production.
On June 24th, we’re teaming up with KOLLEKTIV STICKEN to host a public get-together and textile workshop at the Floating University. Everyone is welcome, and no prior experience is required.
Cooperation partners: THIKWA workshop for theatre and art, KOLLEKTIV STICKEN, GU Columbiadamm, Koopkultur e.V.
More information on our website: Hidden Threads
Exploring and Reimagining Urban Space – with Young People
A Workshop & Practices Exchange Event
Wed, 24th June 2026
17:00 – 20:00 Uhr
Floating University, Lilienthalstrasse 32, 10965 Berlin
Free event, registration online here
The site is wheelchair accessible, but please contact us beforehand, also with other access questions: post@gabrielereuter.de
An evening of input, exchange, and collective reflection on urban exploration practices with and for young people. The event is aimed at professionals already working in this field, as well as those curious to engage with it — including youth workers, urban planners, artists, teachers, civic youth initiatives, researchers, and activists.
Hosted by Urbex for Youth / Citizenslab e.V. (Alice Priori & Gabriele Reuter) and Floating e.V. (Sabine Zahn).
The evening will introduce the Urbex for Youth European project and handbook, the Floating Kids Uni Manifest. Choreographer Sabine Zahn will then guide us through a movement exercise that connects us with the space, our bodies and one another. We will exchange on challenges, potential and dilemmas of working with young people in urban settings. And look for practices that can open up spaces for exploration, participation and creative expression.
About Urbex for Youth
Urbex for Youth is a European project implemented in Berlin by CitizensLab e.V. that empowers young people — especially those at risk of exclusion — to explore, understand, and actively shape their urban environments. The project connects youth, educators, schools, universities, activists, and local institutions to co-design small-scale urban interventions and strengthen civic participation. The 2026–2027 edition is taking place simultaneously in Berlin, Athens, Palermo, and Cádiz.
About the Floating Kids Uni Manifest
The “Floating Kids Manifesto” was distilled in autumn 2020 from over 12 workshops held at the Floating University by Sabine Zahn and Ute Lindenbeck, involving artists for the “Floating Kids Uni”. It comprises 10 propositions on how children, adults and others can learn and be together here.
On Thursdays, Floating is open from 6–9pm. You can come, spend time, be with the place, the water, the reeds, the frogs – they are our program. Sometimes we share a meal, a concert, or a screening. Join us in the basin!
Open Thursdays are hosted by Adriana, Carmen, Hannah Lu, Niusha, Orlan, Rain and Serena.
Every Sunday Floating is open for visitors between 2 and 6pm.
EVERY MONDAY from 9 – 11 am
There is no need to register and participation is free of charge.
Space for Practice makes time and space for movement practice with/in the rainwater retention basinof Floating. It is a regular activity with/in irregular conditions such as weather, other activities and thepresence of people, beings and materials. It is an occasion for practices to encounter a place, forchoreographers to encounter practitioners, for practitioners to encounter the site of Floating and forthe site to shape the practices.
This year’s edition is convened and facilitated in changing constellations by the ChoreographicMilieu: Alice Chauchat, Clément Layes, Daniel Belasco Rogers, Gabriele Reuter, Ghyslaine Gau, Lea Martini, Paula Kramer and Sabine Zahn. We all offer proposals that stem from our respectivepractices/curiosities and from the site, whilst following each other’s traces.
We start on time at 9 am and all who are present hold the space collectively. All are welcome, regardless of whether you have experience with movement practices or not. Important is that we areall committed to working things out together.
