On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of city relations between Berlin and Beijing our CITYMAKERS-team developed a new framework for Sino-German twin cities to further learn and innovate for liveable city making.
Temporary Faith
A studio in “Iowa”, an artist compound in the Caochangdi Village in Beijing, was forcibly demolished. Since then, the life has entered a state of uncertainty. A film by Zhang Ruo.
Walls
This video-walk focuses on the theme of walls and hutong communities from the Forbidden City to Beijing’s Qianmen (前门) during the summer of 2020 when the corona epidemic has not yet ended. A film by Li Xin.
40 Years China Experience- Questions to Dr. Eva Sternfeld
When looking for an expert on the combined topics of environment, education and China, the name Dr. Eva Sternfeld 艾娃博士 pops up at the top of the list. CITYMAKERS has the good fortune of regularly counting Eva among the experts and partners in its network, where she was involved in the focus group “Urban Farming”. While Eva spent her time in quarantine in Qingdao earlier this month, we took the chance to interview her again.
DONG Hao – The Architect as Creative Thinker
In 2005, DONG Hao co-founded Crossboundaries and he is now the Managing Director of its Beijing office. In this interview he reflects on how architects/designers are shapers that inspire people and how important it is to create a whole organism with a relationship to individuals and society.
Profile: Binke Lenhardt | Architect, Partner & Co-Founder of CROSSBOUNDARIES
Get to know Binke Lenhardt, partner and co-founder of CROSSBOUNDARIES, pioneering in the field of architecture for the future of education. In the frame of the CITYMAKERS Future for Living incubator project Binke researched the topic of co-housing and produced a study with co-housing projects in China and Germany , she also participated the project CROSSBOUNDARIES Kids, together with her partner DONG Hao, creating design thinking learning programs for children to become better city makers in the future.
BEIJING WATER WALKS – Le Shui Xing 乐水行
Die BEIJING WATER WALKS organisieren Wanderungen entlang der Flüsse und Gewässer Beijings und informieren über deren Zustand. Dr. Eva Sternfeld nahm 2008 und 2017 an den BEIJING WATER WALKS teil und teilt in diesem Report Ihre Eindrücke.
Virtual Cinematic Walk with Popo Fan
During our first virtual CITYMAKERS walk, Popo Fan 范坡坡 showed us what it is like to see Berlin through the eyes of a queer Chinese filmmaker. Its online premiere was followed by a panel discussion between Popo Fan, Carmen Herold, Mo Sun and Silvan Hagenbrock. If you are interested in this discussion, which touched many transcultural topics such as the comparison between queer life in Berlin and Beijing, you can now watch it here.
LI Mingjiu 李明玖 – Personhood in a Healthy City
For sociology M.A. student LI Mingjiu, healthy city-making means enhancing human rights instead of adhering to neoliberal concerns. For him it is paramount that the individual person is centered as the end to urban health initiatives and not mobilized or discarded as an instrument in the name of urban stability and “harmony.” Read this analysis to learn about his thoughts on healthy city making.
Jahre verfliegen von SHI Ming
Shi Ming ist freier Journalist, und lebt seit 1987 in Deutschland. Für die Berlin-Beijing Learning Cities Map untersucht er die Berliner Schnauze und die Pekinger Zunge.
Die Pekinger Mischung
Christian Y. Schmidt ist Journalist, Satiriker und Schriftsteller. Er lebt in Peking und Berlin. Für die Berlin-Beijing Learning Cities Map begibt er sich auf die Dächer von Polizeistationen, in den Dunst der Lammspießgriller und die Dunkelheit des Babaoshan-Friedhofs.
Kai Gong – mit der Learning Cities Map unterwegs in Beijing
Kai Gong ist Musiker und Philosoph, zwischen Berlin und Peking. Mit unserer “Learning Cities Map” spazierte er durch das Pekinger Wudaokou-Viertel und besuchte das in einem Wohnhochhaus gelegene 706 Youth Lab. In diesem Video-Blog hat er seine Eindrücke festgehalten.
Roman Kierst – Für Gemeinsamkeiten sensibilisiert, kann man sich auf die Suche nach Unterschieden machen
Über Berliner und Pekinger Stadtansichten: Silvan Hagenbrock im Gespräch mit Roman Kierst, Leiter der Online-Redaktion des Goethe-Instituts Peking.
Ramona Pop – Öko-Systeme für grüne Innovationen zwischen Berlin und Asien vernetzen
Ramona Pop ist Vize-Bürgermeisterin der Stadt Berlin. Im Gespräch mit STADTMACHER China – Deutschland spricht sie über ihre China-Reise 2018, in dessen Rahmen sie unter anderem die Wirtschaftsrepräsentanz Berlin in China eröffnete.
Meet XU Tiantian, the Acupuncture Architect
XU Tiantian is the founding principal of DnA_Design and Architecture. The award-winning architect has engaged extensively with rural revitalization processes in Songyang.
FAN Popo – Queer City
FAN Popo ist Filmemacher und LGBTQ-Aktivist (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer). Fan ist Absolvent der Beijing Film Academy und Autor des Buches „Happy Together: Complete Record of a Hundred Queer Films“, dem ersten Buch zu diesem Thema in China. Seine Filme werden häufig auf internationalen Filmfestivals im Ausland gezeigt. In China sind sie im Internet oder bei halb-öffentlichen Veranstaltungen zu sehen. Seine Trilogie „Chinese Closet, Mama Rainbow, Papa Rainbow“, in der es um LGBTQ-Familien in China geht, hat in China starkes Interesse hervorgerufen.