Rasa Weber

WHAT IF

THE OCEAN

WERE

A CITY?

Exhibition and Interactive Program

»What would happen, were we to put aside the assumptions that society occurs on land, and that protecting society means defending it from sea – and seek instead to incorporate the sea into the very foundations of the city, thus joining the city and the sea together: What if the city were an ocean, and its buildings ships?«

(Ingold 2021, »What if the city were an ocean, and its buildings ships?« in: Imagining for Real: 68 quoting Steinberg 2001: 2114)

Parallel to the Berlin Gallery Weekend in May 2025 and as part of the ＿matter Festival and BUA event series »ON WATER | PARCOURS«, design researcher and diver Rasa Weber takes on the challenge of creating an artificial reef in the river Spree, a project she calls »Syntopolis«. Created in collaboration with local artisans, the reef will slowly become a new ecological habitat for various life forms. Streamed into the re:future lab, which is nestled in the historic former AEG factory site »Electropolis« in Berlin-Oberschöneweide, the reef will transform the institute’s exhibition space into an immersive aquatic habitat, where encounters, experiences and reflections on shared ecological futures become tangible.

What lies beneath the visible world? For a long time, the underwater realm served as an imaginary space of natural purity; a pristine environment that nurtured fantasies of an undiscovered or wild world, beyond human comprehension and, therefore, seemingly uncontrollable. Centuries of human activity have transformed these untouched underwater worlds into fragmented, ruined, and blasted seascapes. The ocean has become a space of urban imagination and extractive advances that ultimately shape the waterscapes we are still confronted with today.

Yet, some life forms have managed to establish themselves amid the ruins. The river Spree, which has been altered by urban and geopolitical activities since the 13th century, is critically contaminated with pharmaceutical residues, zinc, copper and even mercury. Nevertheless, it is home to an impressive diversity of thirty-one fish species, millions of mussels and algae as well as invasive species. In the face of ecological upheaval, unexpected life forms are emerging in the midst of disturbance regimes. These life-promoting patches could be seen as islands of hope in a largely devastated waterscape.

Given this, how could a future for such an unlikely underwater existence be designed? And to what extent could these aquatic insights be applied to rebuild urban environments? How could they inspire socio-cultural transformation?

To explore these questions, »What if the Ocean Were an City« offers a multidirectional program spanning an exhibition, a river cruise, interactive tours, co-creation workshops, talks, and panel discussions. The program is part of the »ON WATER | PARCOURS« event series and aims to provide compass and foster transdisciplinary knowledge exchange. Positions of design, artistic research and architecture will intersect with ecology, biology, conservation politics and economics to discuss the potential ecological futures of Berlin’s waters.

FLOORPLAN DOWNLOAD

Credits

»What if the Ocean Were a City?« is a collaboration of re:future lab and the »ON WATER | PARCOURS« series with the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin as part of the ＿matter Festival 2025.

The exhibition and interactive program is hosted by re:future lab and curated by Madeleine Schwinge. The interactive program, co-curated by Dr. Nina Samuel, is supported by the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) as part of the »ON WATER | PARCOURS« series. Alongside the TD Lab’s »ON WATER | DIALOGUE « and the exhibition »ON WATER | WasserWissen in Berlin«, which will open at the Humboldt Labor in the Humboldt Forum in October 2025, »ON WATER« forms a new focus of BUA on the topic of water research in Berlin.

The »ON WATER | PARCOURS« series cultivates a dynamic, multidirectional exchange of knowledge about Berlin’s blue-green infrastructure. Bringing together researchers from all four universities with Berliners, communities, artists and experts, it fosters collaborative research and learning. Through participatory formats and events at the intersection of art and science – held in cultural venues and along Berlin's waterways – it bridges local, global, human and non-human perspectives on water.

A key aspect of this exchange is embodied sensory knowledge that enriches scientific perspectives and expands how water is understood and experienced. In line with BUA’s commitment to socially relevant research, »ON WATER | PARCOURS« seeks to engage urban society in exploring the critical role of water, addressing pressing questions about the sustainable future of the city and the essential functions of its urban hydrosphere.

The underwater installation is located at the quay of the HTW University of Applied Sciences, Campus Wilhelminenhof, Berlin-Oberschöneweide.

A special thanks goes to TAI - TECH GmbH – Taucherarbeiten-Atemschutzarbeiten Industriearbeiten for placing the installation underwater and recovering it later!

Team Credits

Design Research: Rasa Weber (DE | CH)
Assistance: Freke van Rooij, Studio Rasa Weber
(NL | DE)
Co-design and Weaving Construction: Marie Drouet, Atelier Marie Drouet (FR)
Ceramic Elements: Antoine Campana, Potiere de Corbara (FR)
Curation: Madeleine Schwinge, re:future lab (DE)
Coordination: Randi Köster, re:future lab (DE)
Film: Rasa Weber (DE | CH), Till Timmermann (DE); Maxim Landau & Richard Ley
(PR Team Matters of Activity)
Underwater Film Spree: Jakob Kukula (DE)

Sites of Collaborations

STARESO - Station de Recherche Océanographiques et sous-marines (Calvi, FR)

The project is part of the Rasa Weber’s dissertation »SymbiOcean«, belonging to the »Interfacing the Ocean« Swiss National Science Foundation project, led by Prof. Dr. Karmen Franinović and Dr. Roman Kirschner at Zurich University of the Arts. The doctorate takes place within the practice-based program cooperation between Zurich University of the Arts and University of Arts and Design Linz, supervised by Prof. Dr. Karmen Franinović (Design) and Dr. Karin Harrasser (Cultural Theory, University of Arts and Design Linz). As an Associated Member, Rasa Weber has joined the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2022 and is part of its doctoral research cohort.

Dates

Opening: Fri, 2 May 2025, 6:00–9:00 pm
Exhibition: 3–16 May 2025, Tue–Sat 12:00–6:00 pm
Program: 3-4 May 2025, 10:00 am–6:00 pm

Free admission