Category: Berlin

CULTURE.CULTURE

 

Once upon a time there was a French baker who crossed the Atlantic Ocean to move to America. He took his sourdough culture with him and founded a bakery in San Francisco in 1849. Over the years sourdough bread became very popular in the Bay Area. In 1898 the gold miners travelled from San Francisco to Alaska to find gold in the rivers. They carried a leather pouch filled with sourdough culture around their neck, hidden under their clothes to keep the culture warm and alive. Food as scarce in the long Alaskan winters and the miners’ life depended on the bread baked with their personal sourdough culture. Today, old Alaskans are still called “sourdoughs” and sourdough cultures are still passed on and exchanged. Read more

OCTA POZA

 

 

poza= cool, to cool (swahili)

 

 

 

 

Idea:

Scaling up the method of flowerpot cooling to offer people an independent cooling system for storing food and keeping it fresh. The size of the fridge should provide enough room to store an upstanding waterbottle and at least 1kg of vegetables or fruits…

 

 

Making of OCTA POZA

material:

OCTA POZA consists of two clay buckets with a octagonshaped bottum. Unglazed clay in his characteristics has the ability to store moisture and is a natural product. The clay that was picked for OCTA POZA has a high percentage of grog so it can store even more humidity. Once burned, it will maintain it´s bright colour to ensure the best reflection of sunlight.

The material for the required contruction forms had to be solid to keep the clay in shape and preferably waterresistant. Nevertheless the choice was to work with wood to keep the construction convenient. To avoid swelling, the wooden planks of the bottum got coverd with plastic. For the side parts coated mdf planks did the job.

procedure:

To create a quite even surface of the vessels and to approve a constant thickness of the material, the choice for OCTA POZA´s building method was the “slab technique”.

(Detailed basic instructions for this practice under: https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-5-ceramic-techniques-you-need-to-know )

After making sure that all air was lashed out in the clay, 16 pieces for the walls and 4 more for the baseplate were rolled out into the prepared screen of 2 cm thickness. The parts were carefully cutted out and placed aside for drying until they had reached a leatherlike texture which made the further handling a lot easier. When finally all parts were ready to be attached to each other, a mix of clay and water worked as “glue”  for the joint faces. To ensure more stability to the former cracks,  coils of clay were placed on each of them and firmly connected to the layers aside. The wooden profiles which got more and more closed around the vessel during the process, helped to keep the parts in position. But as soon as the the work was done, they had to be removed quickly to avoid an unbalanced drying process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to use OCTA POZA

 

The two octagon shaped clay buckets get stacked into each other. For the use, the gap between the buckets is filled up with sand that occasionally must be watered to keep the cooling effect running. The inner bucketrim stands out to avoid that sand falls inside the bucket which stores the groceries. To increase the cooling effect, the whole system gets finally covered with a wet cotton cloth that still guarantees enough ventilation to avoid mold formation. OCTA POZA´s efficiency can be elevated if it´s habitat is shady and uncongested. The measurements of the object provide enough room to store an upstanding waterbottle and at least 1kg of vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Realization in Kenia- a benefit cycle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visions for OCTA POZA

This natural fridge is designed as a DIY product. The whole process of manufacturing is determined to be copied easily with simple tools that, except for the burning procedure, allows an independent production. OCTA POZA could easily be integrated in any community. The possibility of storing food and keeping it cool is not only interesting for parts in the world which are cut off of electricity and seek for an independent solution. Also the western lifestyle could profit by this sustainable method. All it takes is peolpe who take care of it. An imaginable scenario for OCTA POZA could for example likewise be the installation in an allotment garden. Sited next to a crossing where alot of gardeners pass, this could be a set up, where leftovers from BBQs, gardenparties or plain exessive harvest crops are placed at the disposal for others to use.

 

 

 

GRILL SPOT – final concept

Grill Spot is the one stop shop for having a great barbecue.

Grill Spot is constructed from a standard shipping container so that the grills and charcoal are protected from weather and can be easily locked up at night. These shipping containers are already being used for small kiosks in parks throughout Berlin.
With this service, Berliners can meet their friends at the park for a barbecue and all they have to bring is the food they want to eat.
Let’ s see how it works:

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

When you arrive in the park you will find the Grill Spot in the centre of the barbecue area. Here you can loan a barbecue and buy charcoal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bright pink color of the grills indicates that they are to be shared with others when all of the grills from the Grill Spot are in use. Opening up the barbecue group through sharing a grill encourages forming new relationships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Grill Spot system includes a metal bin specifically for disposing hot charcoal. This helps reduce the risk of fire outbreak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No need to clean the grill, Grill Spot will take care of that for you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Park goers can donate a grill to the Grill Spot instead of throwing it away when it’s no longer needed. Grill Spot will collect it and paint it . This way, other people can continue to use the grill again and again.

 

 

 

 

 

This could be implemented in Tempelhofer Feld, a park in Berlin that the city is already investing in as a public amenity. This system creates a grilling experience that will attract more visitors to the park. The charcoal vending machine will help generate money for the project.
Grill Spot could employ people from social integration programs or pension volunteers. This system could also be part of a sponsored partnership with a food or drink company (Fritz Cola, Lemon Aid or Berliner Bier for example).

 

 

 

Take a grill, leave a grill

After we did our experiment we created this concept for reducing the waste of grills.

Park goers can leave a grill here instead of throwing it away when it’s no longer needed. This way, other people can continue to use the grill again and again. A small shelter helps to protect the grills from rain. Users are encouraged to take a “Shared grill, join us!” sign. This allows multiple groups to use one grill when all of the grills from the shelter are in use. Opening up the barbecue group through sharing a grill encourages forming new relationships. For added convenience, users can also buy just the right amount of charcoal from a vending machine.
This could be implemented in Tempelhofer Feld, a park in Berlin that the city is already investing in as a public amenity. This system creates a grilling experience that will attract more visitors to the park. The charcoal vending machine will help generate money for the project.

Clay Filters for Clean Water ~ Different constructions for using the filter

DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLICATION OF THE FILTERS:
There are different ways of using the filters.

There are tree factors to proceed from:
1: The material used for the construction should be in a material that can take some amount of water or humidity.
2. The construction should be made of out an inexpensive material, that are accessible in for example the slum areas of Nairobi.
3. It should also preferably be easy to make. 

Here are som alternatives of different forms of constructions that can be interesting within there contexts:

                               

Some of my early examples of different handles: 

 

WORKSHOP ~ Clay Filters for Clean Water: Learn the ancient method of making water filters

WHY A WORKSHOP:

A workshop (get more info here) enables for an open source climate. Since my goal is to learn about the process and the different ways of designing the filters, in order to later teach this knowledge, enabling for people to be able to make their own filters, it is important for me to get all the chances I get to try this format.

An important aspect to gain information is through different ways of input. One of these ways is through having a workshop, and thereby creating a platform for opening up for talking about these issues in general, but also gain knowledge by talking about, and maybe even question, certain aspects of the project, in order to move forward.

Also, sometimes you need to take an detour thru something else in order to be able to cross-fertilize and thereby creating a greater value within the projects. By getting feedback from other people….

By having a workshop and also making a booklet with information on how to make your own water filters, I also enable for more people to get to know about this method and maybe sharing it with others.

 

Clay Filters for Clean Water ~ What? Why? How?

The method of purifying water in ceramic filters, is one of the first ways of filtering water that we as humans started using. There is written information about water filters dating as long back as we have written records, tracing back to the earliest civilizations of mankind. It has contributed to the public health evolvement, and therefore to the development of the humanity as a whole. When people could go from fulfilling the needs to fulfilling the wants. 

                

At least 60 per cent of the adult body is made of water, and every living cell in the body needs it to keep functioning. Water acts as a lubricant for our joints, regulates our body temperature through sweating and respiration, and helps to flush waste. A human can go for more than three weeks without food, but only about a week without water (not considering factors like heat. Put that in the equation and we have a different story).

Today, 1 out of 10 people in the world lack access to clean water.

1 out of 5 deaths of children under 5 worldwide, is due to a water-related disease.

It should be a human right to have access to clean water. And it we know a way of solving the issue, why don’t learn people how to make their own and spread the knowledge?  Buy using accessible cheap materials, these filters are a ideal low cost way to cleaning water for a big group of people that are otherwise at risk of getting sick or even die from drinking unclean and contaminated water.

HOW IT WORKS: 

Ceramic water filters are an inexpensive and effective type of water filter, that rely on the small pore size of ceramic material to filter dirt, debris, and bacteria out of water.

By mixing dry clay and sawdust (see more information under Clay Filters for Clean Water ~ How to mix the clay) you get fine pors in the material, where the pathogens gets stuck. If done correctly, and when also dipped into the antibacterial mixture of colloidal silver, it creates a filter that will filter the water from dangers with a 99.9% security.

WHY CLAY?
As this project is adressed mainly towards rural areas where there is a huge shortage of clean water (in this case we have a collaboration with organisations in Kenya) it is important to take notice of the accessibility and costs of these filters.

They are low cost. Pricing for ready-to-use filters, is usually between $15 to $25. Replacement clay filters will cost $4 to $6. If you take care of the filter, you could use it up to 5 years. So that could equal an amount of 40 cents/year.

Materials that are easy to access. And there are already factories in Kenya, close to Nairobi, that are working with doing these filters.


WHAT I WANT TO ACHIEVE:
KENYA: There are already factories making a standardised ceramic water filter. But those are not always the most sufficient ones, since the point of use looks different at different locations. My goal is to learn how to make the filters, to then be able to teach out the knowledge by having workshop-like lessons with the people who are in need of these, so that they then can make their own, according to their needs.

BERLIN: By starting this process in Berlin, I hope to get insights on different ways of using this method. Because, there are areas of use in the western world also. Some examples are: In boats (where the water in the tank might get contaminated), when one wants to collect rainwater or water from a lake, or for people living on the countryside that has an own well that might get contaminated. In all of these cases, the filters would have different sizes and shapes, and the ideal solution to this would be to be able to make a personalised one.

For more information and research on ceramic water filters, please klick here.

Clay Filters for Clean Water ~ How to mix the clay

Since sawdust is mixed in the clay, it needs to do from dry to wet.
These are the ingredients that you need for making the clay are the following:

  • Sawdust
  • Dry Clay
  • Water
  • (Colodial silver)
  • A mold
  • A kiln

1.

Mix the sawdust with the ball clay. (Warning! Dry clay is very harmful for the lungs, you should always use a mask and do it under ventilation or outside.) Parts should be 50/50, but you could also use more sawdust and still get a good functional filter. The size on the sawdust should be quite small, a #30 (600 Micon) size sieve works best, although other sizes can work. Smaller is not advised, as it will be a slow process to sieve and will slow the filtration rate. Larger can be used, up to the size of a window screen, although the filtration quality will suffer some, since it will reduce both plasticity and strength.

Sawdust to the left and dry clay to the right

 

Close up sawdust
Close up dry clay
Mixing the two

2.
Add water. Just add a bit of water at a time and mix it well.

Put a bit at a time
Until it gets to a good consistency – not too dry and not too sticky

3.
Once the clay is workable, wedge it to further mix the clay and remove bubbles from the inside of the clay. Then shape into the form you want. Either just like a small bowl or by carefully smudging it in a mold. But make sure that there is no air inside, otherwise the bowl risk exploding in the oven due to air pressure. Ideal wall width should be around 0.5 – 1 cm.

You could make a shape with your hands
Or, the best way, simply put it in a mold and let it dry.
You see when the clay begin separating from the mold
And then you just flip it over and let it dry until you can put it in the kiln

4.
Fire it. A temperature around 890 degrees C is the optimal firing temperature because it creates a balance between porosity and strength. The organic material (the sawdust) will burn off, leaving behind pores for the filtration to take place.

 

THINGS TO BEWARE OF:
Beware of cracks. If the firing was done correctly, it should not have resulted in any significant cracks, although there may be some cracks leftover from the forming of the clay. Cracks will make any filtering done by the ceramic useless.

The clay will need to be soaked in water before it can actually filter anything, otherwise your first attempts at filtering water through will just be soaked into the body of the ceramic. Once it has been soaked, pour the water to be filtered in and place the pot over something such that it can drip out of the bottom. If you do this soaking in colloidal silver, the filter gets an even better protection.

If this process is done correctly, this filter should have the ability to filter out 95% (or up to 99% with colloidal silver) of the pathogens in the water.

Classification of the different existing pathogens

WHY COLLOIDAL SILVER?
You have probably done this at one point of your life. Throwing a silver coin in a well for good luck? That’s probably is a part of old folklore, since silver has been long known for having effective antibacterial properties. That it’s colloidal means it is a mixture in which one substance of microscopical particles is suspended throughout another substance (in this case silver particles in water).

Colloidal silver is deactivating the bacteria. The quantity of colloidal silver applied per filter was more important to bacteria removal than the method of application. The best method of application is to dip it in colloidal silver for a few minutes when it’s fired. Lining the filter with colloidal silver also prevents the growth of microorganisms within the filter itself.

 

 

Shared Grill- first experiment

For our experiment, we created a sign that said “Shared grill, join us!” to see if others would be willing to join in using our grill. For the second part of the experiment, we created an orphanage for the abandoned grills by using a sign that said “Take a grill, leave a grill”.

We were curious to see how people would react when we opened our bbq group. One group next to us asked if they could use our grill to cook their ribs, and we also got a thumbs up from a girl walking by.

Half way through our barbecue, we ran out of charcoal. We decided to try trading an extra beer we had to another group for some of their charcoal. They were very kind and didn’t want to accept the beer – they let us use their charcoal for nothing in return. Aside from this, It seemed that during a bbq, people are already in their small communities. Not everyone is interested in interacting outside of this community to create a new relationship. Instead, could this be successful with smaller groups of one or two people?

In addition, if people don’t know that this exists when they come to the park for the first time they wouldn’t know to bring food to the park. However, after this sort of system is permanently implemented in a park, people will be able to visit the park again knowing that they can bring food and use a shared grill.

 

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Experiments in Görlitzer Park and in Volkspark Friedrichshain

 

Some questions we had before the second experiment were:

“Are people willing to use a grill that has already been used?”

“Will anyone leave their grill near our sign?”

Initially, people passing by read the sign and seemed to be surprised and delighted. Many people even stopped to take pictures.

In this park, there is no easy way to dispose of hot coals. Most coals are thrown in bins with other trash which could start a fire if the coals are still hot. Some people emptied their hot coals into the grill that we left by the sign.

One group did leave their grill here partially because they didn’t want to deal with the hot coals but also because they liked the idea that someone else could use the grill when they didn’t need it anymore.

 

Field observation in Thai Park

We wanted to observe different kinds of food-community gatherings happening in Berlin. Thai Park is a great example of a cultural food event that brings people together.

 

Here, we noticed that:

  • Almost all the vendors belonged to the same culture. It was easy to see that there was a strong community around this event.
  • The customers were of all cultures visiting the Thai Park.
  • The vendors were being creative by cooking with the minimum amount of tools and resources. They had a very simple, efficient, and organized system to prepare food.

What does clean cooking mean for Berlin?

Field Trip

During our experience barbecuing in the parks In Berlin, we observed that Berlin’s biggest problem is a waste of resources: food, disposable grills, and regular grills. One way to reduce this waste could be to encourage sharing resources. By promoting sharing, we hope to create a stronger community.

Barbecues are already community moments and some groups already interact each other. For example, some guys asked us for charcoal, we asked the group next to us for some ketchup, and they offered us the bread they had left. Despite this, some borders still exist among certain groups.

How we can create more interaction in this situation and move from simply trading to sharing?

 

Community Mapping

We used play mobile figures to represent different members in the barbecue/park system. Exploring these connections allowed us to identify opportunity areas to intervene or improve. This was a good way for us to recap and interpret the relationships between park goers that we observed.

 

 

Fridges without electricity

RESEARCH & INSIGHT

Fridges are items that most people of the western hemisphere take for granted  and wouldn´t want to miss in their daily lifes. Understandable since this invention is a big help when it comes to keep groceries fresh and durable. However most people of the world need to spare them due to electricity reasons, missing structures or simply because they are not affordable. In order to that, a lot of food gets wasted and thrown away before it has the chance to feed the hungry.

 

But there are exsisting methods to keep edibles stored fresh and cool that work completely independent and without electricity!

 

Earth Cellar

 

Wet fabric technique

 

Flower Pot Cooling

 

 

In the case of Kibera the first solution wouldn´t be possible. The earth in the ground is for wide parts contaminated and the soil too hard and dry for digging without the help of machines…also there is a serious lack of space…The second example involves a serious danger to attract the mosquito which is responible for spreading the dengue fever… so it´s the Flower Pot Cooling that deserves a closer examination…

 

An issue: DENGUE FEVER!!!

Since the Flower Pot cooling system is still operating with water, even if it´s not lentic and just causes more or less the same situation that comes with moist soil and watering plants, it can´t hurt to give it a second thought…

Luckely nature provides us with a lot of herbs and plants that are not so attractive amongst mosquitos.

Next to Lavender, Lemon Balm, Lemon Thym, Lemongrass, Catnip, Basil, Garlic, Rosemary and Marigoldit´s the indish Neem tree that is really helpful to keep all kinds of bugs in check. His scent is pleasant for humans and unbearable for most types of mosquitos. Why not minimizing the risks and planting these natural repellants next to the cooling system to make it as uncomfortable as possible for the dengue mosquito to get close ?

 

 

Cooltiles – a detour into a tempting Modular System that sadly proofed to be completely pointless for that matter…

 

 

easy and quick production:

 

 

 

 

tiles that would allow modular sizes:

 

 

 

To make the cooling effect work, the natural fridge demands an concentric shape that is also limited in the size. The bigger the size , the thicker the walls of the vessel must be! To keep the temperature low, the distance between the center and the wall can´t be indefinitely wide! Plain physics…

The cracks between the tiles represent an attractive spot for bugs to hide and place their eggs. Not something what most people would want next to their food.

 

 

 

 

Tequipanoa – Community Network

Our idea is to found a organization selling, nice and compact mostly self running “growing boxes” which everybody can buy to explore our system for themselves at home, with the money paid for them, a fund will be established, from which our organization is supporting social groups in development countries etc. to build the IBC growing system.

Through this we hope to build up a social network providing the needed parts (3D-printed, worms, etc.) to each destination. We will start this project in Nairobi, Kenya where we will try to work together with local resellers, fablabs and farms providing everything so communities are able to grow there own vegetables, regardless off the ground pollution to create some kind of self sufficiancy for people dependend on the market prices and big companies.

Scores Spraying

After writing many scores i chose 10 and prepared stencils to spray them:

 

The first spraying tour took place on a Sunday morning. The empty streets gave me the space to experiment in the practises of graffiti that was new to me. I chose to spray only on objects left on the street that most likely are not interesting for anyone any more. To find objects to spray on was no problem in Berlin Kreuzberg. After a while the streets started filling up with parents and their little children. A group came near us when me and my companion where spraying a score.

” See, now they are placing the stencil and t-h-e-n….” a father tried to explain our actions to his child coming closer and closer.

“watch out,” i said “I’m about to spray and the wind will blow the colour in your direction”

The group change its position to watch me spraying from the other side. When they left they encouraged us to continue.

To have a parallel level of exposure for the scores i have created a Instagram account called REISH.GALEISH and posted the sprayed scores.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWMtDkSgAcW/?taken-by=reish.galeish

https://www.instagram.com/reish.galeish/

The responses on Instagram were immediate and fellt superficial. But a few days later i have found the folowing Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKRNehF8gp/

https://www.instagram.com/miki.malheur/

A woman had seen the score on the street, took a photo, changed it digitally and posted it with some very kind words.

I have posted this score like this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWKbSUmgZYb/?taken-by=reish.galeish

The Instegram experience left me ambivalent about this kind of platform. To explore it in my own methods, after tow weeks when most of the scores i have sprayed where gone, i have sprayed them again. This time i have posted a map of the locations i have sprayed them.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWiPGGDgwUC/?taken-by=reish.galeish

 

EUROPE ~ Make a filter for home use

To go with Potters for Peace recommendations to make the ceramic filters in a more sexy design, I would want to work towards the western world, as a research for the design.

Water filters for personal use is very expensive (from 200 euros and up) and not made in very sustainable materials. To make a new design on the ceramic water filters would be a cheaper and more environmental alternative for home use.

       

This could for example come at use in homes that have a well that doesn’t have clean water, or in boats, where there is a risk of the water in the tank being contaminated.

Experiment I – Types of Dough

 

In the following experiments I want to explore types of dough: yeast dough, sourdough, soda/baking powder dough and dough without leavening, main ingredient: wheat, wheat wholegrain, spelt, spelt wholegrain, rye, rye wholegrain, buckwheat, emmer, oats, teff, rice, maize/corn, cassava, lentil and millet and baking techniques: on the fire, on the grill, on a hot surface, surrounded in hot oven and steaming.

Read more

The Bread Experiment

Moving to Berlin and being surrounded by so many food cultures and eating habits, I started to think about my own relation to german (or local) food, family traditions and what I´m eating on a daily basis. How are my eating habits from growing up in a rather small and enclosed community now changed by being exposed to food cultures from all over the world? Does our generation, as the first one growing up with internet access, play a special role in the globalization of food cultures? How has traveling and having friends from many different countries affected my own food and taste preferences?

One of the foods that is considered a very german thing is bread. Many people agree that the huge diversity of bread is unique to Germany. Eating bread in the morning, in school and most times also in the evening as Abendbrot was my family´s eating habit. But bread can be found all over the world, being a staple food in most cultures and its ingredients, baking method, shape and use have been adapted to each community. How is this specialization affected by our globalized lifestyle, co-existence and mixing of many nationalities and cuisines, ingredients and techniques? Is the bread we are eating now representing this new way of living? Is the mixing and fusing into new cultures also creating new styles of bread? Like a Pumpernikel-tortilla or a steam bun filled with Hummus? Can bread bring different cultures together and create a mutual community?

 

(image by Bobby Doherty)