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The Design Research Lab is a network of people, organisations, and non-human agents engaged at the intersection of technologies, materials, and social practices. Our aim is to design socially and ecologically sustainable tools, spaces, and knowledge that support people’s participation in a digital society – based on common principles of inclusiveness and respect for the planet. This puts the basic democratic right to take part in the digital sphere into practice. We start our research from individual lifeworlds and the needs of minoritized groups, beyond consumer majorities.
We are an interdisciplinary team of designers, researchers, tech-enthusiasts and critical thinkers from Berlin University of the Arts, German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, as well as Einsteincenter Digital Future (ECDF).
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Liquid Commons: Bringing Ocean Science into Global Media Architecture
The ocean connects everything.
Yet for most people, it remains distant, abstract, or invisible.
In this class we ask you to change that. Together with Public Art Lab and Michaela Vieser we imagine new ways of making the ocean present in everyday urban life, using large-scale digital screens, data-driven storytelling, and screen-based visual narratives embedded within the fabric of cities. The aim is not only to inform, but to provoke curiosity, empathy, and a shared sense of responsibility for our collective ocean future.
During the 13 weeks class you will create a 1 min video production that will be submitted to the City Digital Skin Art / CDSA festival and be shown on screens worldwide, bringing the oceans into the cities. There are further screenings planned in Berlin.
In small workshops with guest lecturers from international ocean research institutes you will find your own topic of exploration and work on a visual representation of it. Creative software skills are welcome. Tutors will guide you through this design research focused class and help you deepen your knowledge in this particular scientific field as well as in video production tools.
Teachers: Michaela Vieser, Susa Pop, Ayça Tugran, Prof. Dr. Gesche Joost
Start date & place: Wed, 22.04.2026, at 17:00h in-person at UdK’s Design Research Lab (R215, Einsteinufer 43)
Course time: Wednesdays, 17:00-18:30h
Course venue: Design Research Lab at UdK (in-person classes), Zoom (online classes) + museum visits
Registration: please send your matriculation no. and study program to Joanna Cywinska at . There are limited number of participant spots!
Image credits: Virtual Nature Study by Zork Art, Hangzhou Screen, Photo: Public Art Lab