HABITAT

The HABITAT is a performative imaginative space of at least three years on the disturbed coexistence of plants, animals and humans. From a plant, animal and human perspective, the HABITAT formulates the social problem of under which conditions a successful coexistence is possible – between demarcation and proximity. In doing so, HABITAT attempts to reconcile scientific findings with current social science approaches. The aim of HABITAT is to construct a growing and evolving stage installation that enables plants, animals and people to live together. The highest possible quality of stay for plants, animals and people is the aim of the installation and is tested and made tangible through choreography.

Imagine buying a ticket for yourself or together with up to four people and arriving at the Wagenhalle in Stuttgart in time for the start of the performance.

Our match management will be waiting for you with a suitcase full of tools and action possibilities to help you experience the HABITAT.

Please bring some time with you, because the plants and animals in our ensemble are a little shy. But they are waiting for you in the joyful expectation of being explored over a self-selected period of 1 – 3 hours.
A little “ear cleaning” exercise included :))

 

Click here for registration and tickets

Together with actors from art, theater, film and music, we shape social expectations of the future. The networking of creative artists with scientists from the fields of botany and ecoacoustics marks the beginning of an evolving idea of the future.
The HABITAT installation is a performative presentation of this future. Dramaturgy and choreography are used to bridge the period until the trees take on their supporting function. Through a performative “program” we can make the long periods of time tangible and enable regular visits to perceive the changes. This audio track is the beginning of an archive of sound recordings that systematically captures and makes audible one of several ecoacoustic experiments at HABITAT.

The diagram shows the flowering times of the meadow where the HABITAT has been planted. The flowering times are important for the insects that will populate this meadow.

The diagram shows the different usage cycles that plants, animals and humans are likely to generate in the HABITAT over the course of the year.

The diagram shows the life cycle of the HABITAT. The newly planted trees will grow quietly, they will be well cared for and will eventually take over the tasks that are now performed by the temporary supports. The yellow protective coating on the wooden structure will be renewed regularly. The stability of the trees is regularly monitored and ensured. The roof membrane needs to be replaced from time to time, and the technical installations and fixtures for visitors need to be checked and maintained regularly. And because the life cycle of the living trees that will support the HABITAT in the future lasts much longer than the life cycle of the “dead” wood used, this also needs to be replaced from time to time. The HABITAT is a generational project.

The initially extremely fragile botanical constructions only stabilize when the trees grow successfully. The prerequisite for this is long-term, reliable horticultural care, which, however, is not given enough attention. This is why we cooperate with various specialists from a wide range of disciplines – from social science to theater pedagogy, from botany to architecture. This is because the structural use of trees in architecture makes it possible to make growth processes meaningful for users over the year, over decades, over generations.

A forest consists of different layers. You can think of it like the floors in a house: The “foundation” in the forest is the root layer. Above this is the “soil layer”, the “first floor” of the forest, where plants and fungi grow. The “herb layer” is the “first floor”. The “shrub layer” is the “second floor”. Here the plants are somewhat larger – a rock pear grows here in the habitat. At the very top, the treetops form the “roof” of the HABITAT. The HABITAT is primarily inhabited by insects and other animals that form an ecosystem with the plants on site.

The section shows that the HABITAT is a minimally invasive intervention in the urban ecosystem; it can accommodate animals, plants and people during the day and at night. Every change to the composition, whether small or large, represents a disturbance – with both positive and negative consequences. The construction of buildings usually represents a maximum disturbance. Existing ecosystems are usually dissolved and then compensated for elsewhere. If, on the other hand, the existing ecosystem were only partially destroyed by minimally invasive construction, as in the HABITAT, the associated dynamics could be exploited. Disturbances are crucial for the dynamics of ecosystems so that they can adapt to the urban framework conditions. This means understanding every new structural intervention as part of an existing ecosystem.

The unsealing of a piece of asphalt in the HABITAT marks the beginning of natural habitat restoration. After perforating the asphalt, the holes are planted with dandelion seeds, which break up the remaining asphalt in the long term and allow the soil to breathe more by decontaminating it. The resulting micro-habitats are populated by various plant species, not just dandelions. The drilling work was recorded and converted into an audio format. This measure symbolizes the imminent unsealing processes of many asphalted areas in cities and was developed and implemented by the artist Rebecca Hennel.

HABITAT is a transdisciplinary, performative research project by Bureau Baubotanik in cooperation with Kunstverein Wagenhalle e.V. and Theater Rampe. HABITAT is funded by the Cultural Office of the City of Stuttgart, the Landesverband Freie Tanz- und Theaterschaffende Baden-Württemberg e.V. with funds from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg, and the Freie Tanz- und Theaterszene Stuttgart (FTTS) with funds from the Cultural Office of the City of Stuttgart.
Habitat is supported by IBA2027 (Internationale Bauausstellung 2027 StadtRegion Stuttgart GmbH) and Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG.

Artistic direction: Bureau Baubotanik

Assistants: Nikita Nagel, Pia Motschenbacher, Katharina Meding, Maik Sticker, Philipp Phan

Dramaturgy: Jule Winkler, Jonas Spieker with Bureau Baubotanik in collaboration with Jenni Schnarr, theatre pedagogue at the Landestheater Detmold.

Field recordings and sound design: Max Kullmann, Stille als Luxus,
Office for Sound Design and Spatial Experience

Individual artist: Rebecca Hennel

Artistic cooperation: O-Team , theatre/performance collective and Florian Feisel, professor of puppet theatre at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart

Stage installation: Bureau Baubotanik

Engineering support: Matthias Rudolph (Professor of Building Technology and Climate-Friendly Design at the Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design)

Botanical and ecological support: Robert Gliniars (University of Hohenheim) and Sebastian Becker

Structural design: Julian Lienhard, str.ucture
Lightweight Design. Made in Stuttgart.
Graphic design and online magazine: Alisch Berlec Hönow (abh)

Institutional co-operations: Theatre Rampe, Stuttgart and Kunstverein Wagenhalle e.V., Stuttgart