29.05.2018
Long Night of the Sciences at Futurium
On 9 June 2018, from 17:00 to 24:00, the Long Night of the Sciences will take place in Berlin and Potsdam. For the first time, following the completion of construction work, Futurium will also be taking part, opening its doors to the public to offer a view of its work on the path to the final launch of this house of futures in 2019. The programme includes hands-on activities, artistic performances, a Future Slam and stimulating short lectures.
On 9 June, when the “smartest night of the year” takes place in Berlin and Potsdam, Futurium will be joining in. For the Long Night of the Sciences, the house of futures has put together a varied programme that aims to familiarise its visitors with scientific approaches. “Our goal is to excite our guests’ curiosity,” says Dr Stefan Brandt, Director of the Futurium. “At the Futurium they can discover new things and look in a completely new light at things from daily life that they take for granted. We wish to enter into a constructive exchange with them through exploring questions such as: what do scientific discoveries mean for our everyday lives? How do we want to live in the future?”
Hands-on activities for trips of discovery and experiments will be offered throughout the house: visitors can fly through virtual worlds with the ICAROS flight simulator, experiment with artificial intelligence, build an open source weather station or various energy converters. The Futurium Lab offers a do-it-yourself biological laboratory and the chance to discover possible architectures of the future by means of 3D printing. The Urban Gardening project on the forecourt of the Futurium demonstrates how urban plants can contribute to the climate and to biodiversity – along with a workshop in which visitors can make their own “seed balls” for greening the city.
The Futurium Future Slam will pose the question “Wish or reality?”: moderator Dr André Lampe will be inviting onto the stage participants from the spheres of science and art to present their ideas of the A to Z of all things related to futurology. The topic “Working on the Future” will be highlighted in short contributions from Futurium’s associates – experts from scientific organisations, research-based companies, foundations, and politics – who will be offering insights into their work.
The creative interaction of human and machine can be observed at the Futurium studio of Roman Lipski: the Berlin-based painter lets his creative process be inspired by a “digital muse”. Sound experiments are presented in the form of the 3D sound installation “I’m not a robot” by KLING KLANG KLONG that will arch across the Futurium building like a large dome of light and sound. Together with its Artistic Director Alexandre Découpigny, netzwerk junge ohren e.V. will transform the elevator into a sound lift; further musical contributions to the Long Night of Sciences will be made by members of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin performing music of the future and the band Schokozapfen presenting musical improvisations.
The Berlin theatre and performance collective Turbo Pascal will invite visitors to an interactive theatrical performance about our life in the future. Three large-format art installations on the exhibition floor illuminate three dimensions of the future, Human – Nature – Technology: “LeveL” by mischer’traxler studio from Vienna, “H.O.R.T.U.S. Karlsruhe” by egoLogic-Studio for the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, and “The Swans” by Italian artist Marco Barotti.
Those interested in cycling to explore historical sites of science, award-winning architecture and world-class research institutions can register for the guided tour “Science on Bikes” as part of the Long Night of the Sciences – the Futurium is one of the stops on the city centre tour.
The Long Night of the Sciences will be taking place in the context of the Futurium’s Workshop Weeks from 30 May to 9 June 2018. We extend a cordial invitation to our visitors to get to know our work at this house of futures and to take a peek behind the scenes at Futurium as it strides towards its launch in spring 2019. The Workshop Weeks at the Futurium have been organised under the heading “Areas of Tension. Approaching Possible Futures”. They will concern the major issues of the future, such as digitisation, civic involvement, climate protection and sustainability – always under the guiding question “How do we want to live?”. Admission is free, except on the Long Night of the Sciences. Tickets for the Long Night of the Sciences can be purchased at the Futurium’s evening box office or at www.lndw18.de.
Press accreditation: If you wish to attend one of the events as a representative of the press, please seek accreditation by sending an email to public.relations@futurium.de.