Poligonal — Office for Urban Communication, was founded in 2018 by Chistian Haid and Lukas Staudinger. Focusing “on the city’s architecture, on urban development, and on social dynamics, both contemporary and historically”, Poligonal provokes new ways to observe, think about and experience Berlin. Their research is intertwined with their organised tours, workshops and city walks. These unconventional urban journeys unpeel the city’s complex and interconnected layers and encourage lively debates.
Q > What’s your favourite ritual?
LS > Easy one: extensive breakfast on the balcony (ideally with a nice view). And at least one good laugh per day.
Q > Who / what inspires you?
CH > Well, the classics I guess: a good conversation, a good book, music, art, architecture, film; but, most of all, people who do meaningful and creative work — not just in our professional field but also in other disciplines. Exchange among disciplines is quintessential, especially in an increasingly complex reality.
Q > Building connections with places through presence and absence: past and present — tell us about your journeys and which places have triggered memorable emotions.
LS > One of the most magical moments of the last years was the day I visited the ancient temple city of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Built 900 years ago, the 162ha complex in the middle of the jungle seems like a miracle in terms of engineering and city planning. Its precise geometry and urban layout is even visible from space. Today, the jungle has almost entirely taken back and overgrown the built structures creating the most beautiful combinations of ruins and nature.
Q > Surprising contradictions — tell us about things that conflict you and inspire you at the same time.
CH > Informality. Often when travelling — especially but not exclusively in countries in the Global South — we happen to encounter aspects of urban life that are beyond “the formal” or “the regulated”; from informal settlements to unauthorised food stalls and illegal street vending. The precariousness of those urban phenomena is often unsettling, yet fascinating, due to the ingenuity, creativity and the levels of self-organisation and agency developed and performed by people themselves. Yet, one always needs to be cautious to not romanticise these forms of urban life but comprehend them as struggles to survive.
Q > Tell us about your most unconventional project (even if it did not materialize).
LS > We have always wanted to do an expedition following Berlin’s city limit — the 234km border between Berlin and Brandenburg piercing through commercial areas, highways, forests and suburbs — the city’s threshold between urban and rural. Unfortunately we have only been able to have a closer look at some stretches. An extended walk/ride around the whole city would definitely be eye-opening in terms of peripheral spaces and the texture of the urban fringes.
Q > What patterns, routines or rituals define or help to shape your life and its rhythms?
LS > Our yearly Poligonal retreat. Every summer, we clear our calendars for a three-day break in a quiet location somewhere outside Berlin. We analyse the last 12 months, we talk about the projects we have realised and discuss how to develop them further. Most of all, we come up with new ideas, topics and main priorities for the coming year(s). We develop concepts, outline content and identify partners who we want to work with in the future. Those days have always been highly inspirational, rewarding and helped shape the trajectory of Poligonal and as a team.
CH > I love to navigate through the city absorbing all it’s diversity, complexity and everyday creativity. In the summer months it has become an after work ritual to cycle to Prinzenbad — a public pool in Berlin Kreuzberg and probably one of the most diverse spots in the city. You always meet friends there who share the same routine, and you feel like being on vacation immediately. Unfortunately, due to the corona restrictions imposed and the distancing regulations, much of the unique and diverse atmosphere has been lost.
Q > Which things do you think the people around you (in your community, city or country) often take for granted?
CH > The basis of our society: the fact that there is a doctor you can go to when you are sick, the freedom to move through public space (at least before and hopefully after coronavirus restrictions), public transport, the welfare state, and democracy! Never take democracy for granted.
Q > Which topics do you find yourself debating these days?
CH > What we love about our work is the possibility to instantaneously react to social, political and economical changes. The city is the locus where such changes unfold first. Look at the coronavirus and all the new restrictions and rules in place: isn’t it striking how that geopolitical health crisis has changed the way in which we navigate through everyday urban space? Is public space under threat? How is the global corona outbreak going to change the way we live and manoeuvre in cities? Having debated these questions a lot, we decided to develop a new series of lockdown-friendly audio-walks — “The Politics of Public Space” — that discuss the current condition and the future of public space. To trigger a broad discourse we have invited local and international experts from the fields of architecture, urbanism, sociology and anthropology sharing their insight. We believe in facilitating networks, exchanging knowledge and creating a discourse.
Dr Christian Haid — As urbanist, architect and researcher, Haid has experience in academic education and research in city planning, urban design, architecture, urban sociology, and urban management. His thematic focus is on urban theory, critical urban research, informal urbanism, everyday urban practices, as well as process-oriented city planning. Christian is Senior Researcher at the Habitat Unit and lecturer at the Urban Management Masters Programme of the Technical University Berlin.
Lukas Staudinger, Mag.arch. MA — As architect, urbanist and curator Lukas has gained hands-on experience and has worked as a university lecturer for many years. His thematic focus is on historic and contemporary housing, post-war urbanism, architectural heritage, and urban everyday life. He is also a trainer for team building techniques and mediation processes.
