What lies beneath the visible world? For a long time, the underwater realm served as an imaginary space of natural purity; a pristine environment that nurtured fantasies of an undiscovered or wild world beyond human comprehension and, therefore, seemingly uncontrollable. Centuries of human activity have transformed these untouched underwater worlds into fragmented, ruined, and blasted seascapes. The ocean has become a space of urban imagination and extractive advances that ultimately shape the waterscapes we are still confronted with today. Yet, some life forms have managed to establish themselves amid the ruins.
How could a future for such an unlikely underwater existence be designed? And to what extent could these aquatic insights be applied to rebuild urban environments? How could they inspire socio-cultural transformation?
Design researcher and diver Rasa Weber takes on the challenge of creating an artificial reef in the river Spree, a project she calls »Syntopolis«. Created in collaboration with local artisans, the reef will slowly become a new ecological habitat for various life forms. Streamed into the re:future lab, the reef will transform the institute’s exhibition space into an immersive aquatic habitat, where encounters, experiences, and reflections on shared ecological futures become tangible.
The exhibition »What if the Ocean Were a City?« is part of the __matter Festival 2025, organised by the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity, Image Space Material«, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.«
