PEOPLE, COLLABORATORS, SUPPORTERS

In the same way the Baumhaus offers a platform for networking and collaborating, so has the development of the Baumhaus project itself emerged – because of the help, collaboration and support from many people, projects and a broad network…

Baumhaus Founders Scott & Karen

C. Scott Bolden is a Designer, Artist and Engineer who came to Berlin in 2002 from Brooklyn, New York, where he started out at Smart Design, acted as the chairman of the Environmental Responsibility Section of the IDSA (Industrial Designer’s Society of America) and taught at New York University, Parsons School of Design and New York School of Interior Design. He then focused on social art projects and the idea of sustainability, especially concepts of social sustainability. He is a founder of the artist and design collective Skizum and designed and built several spaces for culture, art and community-building events. Sometimes he is a DJ and he was World Champion in Ultimate Frisbee with team USA in 2008.  Video interview with Berlin im Wandel – Scott explains the Baumhaus /  Video about Scott

Karen Wohlert is in Berlin since 2004. Besides the big questions of saving the world, society and philosophy – she studied political sciences and completed an internship in the European Parliament –  Karen is involved in topics as self-organization, the social movements and the art of living as an actor of change. Karen grew up with the anti-nuclear-movement in Wendland. There, she started an environmental youth group in Lüneburg, played music, founded a students café at the University of Potsdam and lived in a house project in Berlin and worked in the Thinkfarm. Now she lives together with Sott in their shared flat right above the Baumhaus spaces, and – if there happens to be some time – thinks and writes in the woods of Brandenburg. Video about Karen

Baumhaus Verein founding members

Signe Heins moved to Wedding in summer 2013. She is per definition an all-rounder, can do everything and is intersted in everything. Anyways her passion arises when it comes to waste. Waste-management, upcycling, zero waste, circular economy these are her keywords. In her former life she studied political science and international relations in Hamburg and Coimbra (Portugal), worked as educational trainer and did a lot of acting – on stage and as group leader. “Eine Gesellschaft braucht immer auch eine Gemeinschaft. Und Gemeinschaft braucht Mitgestaltung. Im Baumhaus gestalten alle irgendwie mit und das schafft eine sehr positive Stimmung. Jeder, der hier herkommt, bekommt ein Gefühl von “Ich kann etwas erreichen”.”

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Maria Marggraf lives and studies in Berlin since 2010.  Both in her studies and in her free time she is engaged in different aspects of language and culture.  She is studying hispanophone, anglophone und frankophone languages and cultures.  In this context she is dealing with alternative ways of thinking and living in latin america.  Her special interest is artistic language: in literature, in performances and theatre.  Through the Baumhaus Maria got the possibility, to make a long dreamt dream reality.  Here she found a space for starting a group of young poets.  „ I’m engaged in the Baumhaus project, because it’s an open space where everyone is collaborating, working, thinking and exploring on a future beyond any form of exploitation.“    

Kirsten Kohlhaw lives and works in Berlin since 2000. She studied literature-, film- & art-science and worked a copule of years in the film and TV business. To followe-up her interest of questions of self-organized and socially just life and work she completed an education in business and coaching. She lives up to her values by supporting people, special interest groups and young enterprises that share her values along the way. She offers councelling and transfer of knowledge as a systemic guide of processes, fire starter, communications consultant and text editor. Her Website“I got involved with the Baumhaus project because this is a place where global topics can be put local. Also we can achieve huge effects through local, participatory and for-the-common-welfare-initiatives of citizens and consuments, taking back their responsability to the global level.”

Hannes Kutza is a nativer Berliner. He has already done everything, including bike messenger, barkeeper & scientist. Hannes’ interests are wide spread because everything’s connected with everything. Nevertheless, his main focus is on the possibilities and concepts of post-fossil urban mobility, open source technology and active cooperation & collaboration of local initiatives. And he takes beautiful pictures: www.twoseconds.de “Baumhaus is THE missing link in Wedding. We are in urgent need for public spaces that we don’t shape as consumers but rather by getting together and taking effect.”

Tobias Stapf left his home town at 17 to go live, study and work in lots of different places. Through his work and experiences abroad he developed a particular interest in social innovation, p2p education, community development and civic engagement in cities. His current initiative is www.buerger-uni.de. He believe that during these times of social, ecological and political change, Europeans can learn a lot from communities around the world that have addressed their problems under great pressures with just the smallest amount of resources by finding ways to work together. “What I love about the Baumhaus is that it is an expression of that special spirit of Berlin that brings together great people who say: We want to make the world around us a better place, so why not just give it a try.”

Nino Khelaia is originally from Tbilisi, Georgia, she currently lives in between Berlin and Tbilisi, and is occupied with research in social and political sciences. Interested in various aspects of contemporary societies but most importantly in the – big, difficult an not novel – question: how is a better life possible? “The only certainty we can assume is that local problems can not be dealt without a global perspective and vice versa. The Baumhaus idea totally corresponds to this assumption and this is the reason why I find it promising.”

Collaborators & Supporters

Former Baumhaus Interns

Franziska Panitz studied Journalism, English and Psychology in Leipzig and Dublin and came to Berlin in 2010. She did internships at an art magazine and NGO, was editor in a start-up and began to study graphic design. She has worked as a designer, illustrator and writer ever since. Her focus lies in sustainability and the possibilities a western citizen has to start living in a healthier, more aware and environmentally friendly way. Das Baumhaus has given Franziska a lot of inspiration, as well as the possibility to meet people from all walks of life who follow the same dream.

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Asha Tomlin-Kent is a Modern-Languages student from Bristol in England. She stumbled upon Das Baumhaus whilst hunting for an internship in Berlin for her Year Abroad and started working at the project at the start of November 2015. The social sustainability aspect of the project and the aim to build an innovative and creative space where like-minded people could come together to make the world a bit better, really resonated with her! Her role in the project involves writing blog posts, translations, spreading the word about the latest events and helping to broaden the Baumhaus network. Das Baumhaus has given Asha plenty of inspiration, as well as the opportunity to meet many interesting people, both from the local community and the network of sustainability initiatives in Berlin.

Uli Nagel, a native Berliner, guitar-builder and Building Engineering student, has been the building intern at Das Baumhaus since the beginning of October 2015. When he found the project online, he was particularly excited by the idea of turning Scott and Karen’s vision for Das Baumhaus into a reality. He loves that the project covers all aspects of sustainable development, from the ecological to the cultural and social and enjoys finding sustainable solutions to all the technical problems that arise in the building of the space. So far, he has enjoyed working in such a sociable environment and meeting lots of like-minded people

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Luke Hughes is an aspiring architect and artist who has called Berlin his home since January 2016. Throughout his architectural education he was inspired by space that positively engages with its context, understanding that politics, people and the environment shape a space as much as its physical appearance. In February 2016 he was inspired to join the project because he believe it embraces this idea and is engaging with its design and construction mixing the sustainable ideals with well-crafted design.

Anna Nehl is an Intercultural Communication Master student, grew up and lived in Europe, America and Asia and has joined the Berlin melting pot in 2001. Apart from studying, she’s currently engaged in freelance journalism, German language teaching, mindfulness meditation and dog sitting. She likes to excuse herself as being a “multipotentialite”, having many parallel interests she likes to balance. She loves that many different worlds collide in the Baumhaus to create something sustainable and meaningful. She has been working in the field of project management for the vertical garden since March 2016 and is also helping out with translations and the website.