Real (Estate) Creativity

In a city like Berlin, it is not easy to attract tourists, families and young hipsters at the same time. In particular if you are a home improvement store. So Kudos to Hornbach, a chain for building materials and tools, for being the current talk of the town. Hornbach sponsored the “Haus der Vorstellungen” in the center of the city. Haus means house (see how easy German is) and Vorstellungen translates to imagination, as well as introduction, presentation and performance (okay, okay I take that back).

Before the old house at Torstrasse 166 is gonna be remodeled soon, it is used as a temporary public gallery and experimental space for a number of different artists: In a completely dark apartment visitors can listen to the “sound of the city”. Another one is filled with huge, white balloons and next to that architects rebuilt a stereotypical GDR condo from the 1970s. In an otherwise empty apartment an artist preserved the olfactory history of the rooms (I did not go into the bathroom in that one). One store is covered in maps and post-its and on another one a creepy video installation shows two little girls playing at a graveyard. On the top floor all bathtubs are covered in fur, a giant disco ball hangs from the ceiling and on the weekends one of the top clubs organized free parties there.



It’s all pretty cool. And the coolest thing is that the house is a real forum for creativity and not a Hornbach showroom. I only spotted a small logo on the free magazine and micosite, a mission statement at the entrance and Hornbach’s slogan “There is always something you can do” on the front wall. Hornbach convinced me that they are willing to think outside the box. They are there for you to provide you with the means to realize your ideas - no matter how crazy they might be.