Created by London-based moving image, fine arts and animation student Sergej Hein. You can read about his inspiration for the video and how he made it on the Youtube Creator’s Corner page.
Wonderful news…the winner of the Newcomer award in the 2010 German Design Prize is an old friend of ours. Elisa Strozyk won the award for her work “Wooden Textiles”, which impressed the jury for originality, as well as emotional and symbolic quality. You can find out more on the design council website (in German) or here on the ICSID website, where we found this quote from Elisa about her work: “I question everyday normality, re-interpret it, put what is familiar into a new context.”
You can see more of Elisa’s work on her website, or come by the Circus Hotel where she was responsible for the creation and installation of the photo-wallpaper and the lightboxes in Fabisch. Congratulations Elisa!
Berlin is packed with buildings that date from different periods of its history – some famous, others less so – and the Cold War era of the city is no exception. We found this cool video on Motherboard.tv, which features a long-abandoned American listening station on the Teufelsberg in the west of the city…a fascinating glimpse of a different time.
Teufelsberg itself is a cool spot with an interesting history. The hill was built following the second world war with the rubble from the bombed buildings in Berlin and at 80 metres is now the highest point in the city.
As the renovation of the Circus Hostel continues, we take a look at some of the elements that are finding their way via Sandra’s imagination into the re-design of the rooms…
(Above…My Home Is My Castle…and does anyone recognise the pattern?)
(Above…cats to keep you company…but these particular furry friends have a surprise waiting for the first guests…)
(Above…An old Berlin street scene standing in front of the rural idyll of somewhere else…)
Hey ho, it’s Monday morning, so time to get the lowdown from the Circus Entertainer Andrew as to what’s going on both here in the Circus and elsewhere in the city. We have a lot of old friends stopping by at Fabisch this week, so it will be great to see them and hopefully you as well…
This week at Fabisch
Wednesday’s Aperitif with DJ Frau Brex will get us tapping our feet and licking our lips as we once again combine fine music with fine food – and naturally a fine Aperitif from our special selection of mixed drinks especially put together for the evening. Yum.
On Friday night Fabisch will be taken over with Caberet fever as Saudia Young’s (SEE PHOTO) “Dark Caberet” roles into town. Who will be special guest this time?
Sunday night sit back and relax with the soft acoustic sounds of Rebecca Olmstead. Rebecca with perform an original set which sits somewhere in the world of Folk and Blues.Rebecca grew up on the east coast of America and has spent the last 9 years performing in Berlin. Her music is Soft, Melodic and Sentimental. Her sound reminds me a little of Ani Defranco.
Around Town:
On Monday night at Schaubuhne Berlin, A German adaptation of Arthur Millers Classic – “The death of a salesman “ will be performed, directed by Luk Perceval. The last days of Willi Loman. A story of a man in his twilight years burdened with the realisation that his life has been a failure – a victim of the American dream of success and prosperity.
Friday night @ Astra Kulturhaus the undisputed heavy weights of Electro pop “HOT CHIP” are getting ready to unleash their new album “ One Life Stand” across Europe and America. These old school Chipsters will be sure to get you on the dance floor. On Sunday night at Supamolly – Berlins queen of indie pop Kitty Solaris will be performing a special show with piano songstress Edie Fuchs.
Lastly, Saturday night at the Kookaburra Comedy Club see’s the return of “Laugh Olympics” – a competitive comedy show performed by an energetic cast of comedians with a passion for creativity and improvisation. Will be just what you need after a night at the theatre with Arthur Miller.
(Circus designer Sandra checks out some more stuff she likes from the world of art and design and anything else that takes her fancy)
masslos is a combination of pictures and music from RoBErT GoEtZ…a project from Robert Alonso and Mathias Götz. The illustrations on the film are from Laska Grafix. You can find more tunes and videos (and in a better quality) directly on the RoBErT GoEtZ website.
(Photo (c) Matthias Heiderich)
As spring slowly pushes back the cold and ice of winter and the city begins to warm up, we realise – as we do every year around this time – that Berlin is not as grey and colourless as we experienced over the past few months. Whether or not the colours of the city sparkle quite as brightly in reality as they do in the photographs of Marcus Heiderich is another question!
In his collection “Color Berlin” we see our city transformed through his work into a place of vibrant striking colours…not unlike the paint-job on the corridors of the new-look Circus Hostel. You can see the full collection of “Color Berlin” on Marcus Heiderich’s page on the Behance network, and you can see more examples of his work, from photography to music, on his website.
Elsewhere on the web there are many great images of Berlin, from the artistic expression of weirdandwired on flickr and Berlin street art on fensterzumhof, to the trip down memory lane as the New York Times compares street scenes from before the Berlin Wall came down to twenty years after it fell.
Bar Manager Jared Goldman gives us the low-down on some of his favourite watering holes in the city and anywhere else that takes his fancy…
Riva Bar is usually included in those top ten bar lists and was also written up as one of Time Magazine’s best bars in 2006. You can find it just down the street from the Circus, under the S-Bahn tracks close to Hackescher Markt. Placed directly under the arches, when you walk in you feel like you are walking into a beautiful hanger or a perfect tunnel, with the large round bar right in the middle of the space, waiting for you.
On the day I went there was a DJ playing a kind of “Berlin Jazz” that was the perfect mood-setter for sitting down at the bar and trying some cocktails…they usually have DJs from Thursday to Saturday, and it is a musical mix of jazz, funk and soul. As for the style of the place itself…well really, it is the bar that is the star, taking up the whole space in the middle of the room and extremely impressive…especially the shiny black surface that you just want to sit and stroke as the bartender mixes your drinks.
I was there with our of my Circus buddies Keima, and we ordered different drinks to see what the bartender could come up with. I ordered a Raffels Singapore Sling, a classic containing gin, Herry cherry liqueur, DOM Benedictine, Angostura, fresh lime juice, pineapple juice and grenadine. It was served in a pint glass pineapple and a cherry tooth-picked to it. Lovely.
Keima ordered a Rusty Nail, which is scotch whisky and drambuie. If that sounds simple, well…first the ingredients are combined in a glass and then rigorously stirred with a long-handled bar spoon. Then it was strained into another small glass with fresh ice. The devil is in the details. A nice touch at Riva is that the drinks come served with fresh ice water and small bar snacks. Highly civilised.
Cocktails at Riva are priced between €7 and €9,50, although there are happy hours when you can drink their fine selection of drinks for around €6. To find out more about their menu, DJ sets and anything else you might want to know, check out their website. Great drinks, nice atmosphere, and a beautiful setting…and all only a short stumble back up the road to Rosenthaler Platz.
Riva Bar Berlin
Dircksenstrasse Bogen 142
10178 Berlin-Mitte
Open Daily from 6pm
Riva Bar Website
(Click on the map for a closer look of how to get there)
This video of free running through the streets of Berlin is made by a young Berlin filmmaker Björn Beau …check out both the myspace page and the youtube channel for more info and examples of his work.
As we enter the home stretch and the final weeks of the Circus Hostel renovation are upon us, here are a few more pictures from “behind the scaffolding” as the plans come together…
(Above…sparks are flying in the reception)
(Above…bright colours in the dorm rooms)
(Above…office supplies on the first floor)
