Lower East

Dinners in the Lower East Lab

We do dinners in the lab! We just love to do that. Now and then, then and again, Camillo’s (pop up) Kitchen pops up with either Camillo’s Cafeteria or Camillo’s Paladar.

We also love to do all the other good stuff in our lab; the graphic design, the workshops, the talks, the meetings – and the quiet, creative days.

Last Friday it was time for Camillo’s Paladar (paladar is a term stolen from Havanna, Cuba, where the only good food you can get is in the half-private, family-run restaurants called Paladars). It turned out to be a lovely, very cosy evening with 18 guests (berliners of many kinds, danes and swiss flying and training in), all smiling, eating, talking, drinking, laughing, having a good time. The menu was a six course homage to the french cuisine – paired with just excellent german wines.

Among our guests, suddenly a brilliant photographer got inspired and popped up – the next day we got almost 100 wonderful, evocative and intense photos in our mailbox. Thank you so much to the photographer, Martin Studer from Switzerland. Here you can see a small and delicate selection of his photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s going on in the lab?

What’s going on in the Lower East Lab? These mid of July days are somehow calm. We are still working on 3-4 graphic design projects and trying to finish stuff by the end of the week – and we are getting closer and closer to a long-awaited holiday break.

We are really, really happy with our lab here in Berlin! The last 2-3 months we have had so many sweet, cool, funny, talented, interesting and interested people in the lab, for many different reasons and purposes. Thanks for that!

Just to mention some of the arrangements and events that has happened in the Lower East Lab:
• in May we had 15 architects from the Danish company, Mejeriet, on an Urban Safari – cruising Berlin on bikes with us, getting inspired and checking out “transformations“ in this wonderful city. The group of architects finished the evening, co-creating with us a delicious dinner, Camillo’s Paladar, in the lab.
• also in May we arranged a day-long Food Safari, for a group of (around 20) students, studying global nutrition and health at the Copenhagen-based school Metropol. After a introduction in the lab, we met with people, checked out new and inspiring food projects, visited food markets and tested delicious stuff ’unterwegs’. All day on bikes, daring to end the day with a tasting of german white wines…
• later in May we had an even larger group in the lab, attending Hack the City to discuss THE FUTURE OF WORK. The workshop was arranged by the Swedish city of Sundbyberg and was facilitated by the Stockholm-and-Malmö based innovation company Shuhuu.
• we have our monthly dinner in the lab; Camillo’s Cafeteria, where up to 20 people from the Berlin ’international scene’ show up, meet, talk, eat and drink a glass of wine (or two). We will be back with the cafeterias from August on. We also held three successful Camillo’s Chef’s Table, private dinnners in the lab during the spring.
• we managed to include a gastro teambuilding in the program; a group of 9 leaders from a pension fund showed up in the lab and under guidance from Chef Camillo, the group created a three course lunch dinner with three house favorites; potato-rosemary pizza, white asparagus and a asparagus-leeks-parmesan risotto. The process and teambuilding went very well. The food was delicious and the atmosphere fantastic.
• in June, a group of KaosPilot students from Switzerland joined our two day Urban Safari Berlin. On bikes, we checked out the inspiring start-up scene in the city, met and talked with creative and lively people. During the safari days the lab worked as a ’class room’ for sharing and reflecting. The safari turned out as planned and was very succesful. We are really happy with our urban safari concept!
• besides all this, we have managed to do a lot of good work during spring with our main ’thing’; the graphic design and communication. With great help from two trainees, Casper from Denmark and Amanda from Sweden, we, among other things, designed a book for Glasmuseum Ebeltoft, a brand new website for another art client – Hempel Glasmuseum, a visual identity for a swiss consultant, a series of posters for the KaosPilots Switzerland, a new website for a Berlin client – a big old factory which has developed into a cultural art and event space, one for a Swiss client and right now deeply in the design process with a new book for a Danish client, the book will come out this autumn.

Have a fantastic summer out there!

Impressions from the lab life:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food Safari Berlin

Lower East have together with Volcano Concepts organized and planned three Food Safari Berlin in September and October 2014. If you work with food, can’t keep your fingers from the pots and pans or simply just want to dig into the lively food scene here in Berlin, check this offer out. Dates in 2014: September 11-12, September 25-26 and October 23-24.

The following description will be in the danish, call/mail if you don’t get the point, and want more details.

Vi inviterer på en intens to-dages FOOD SAFARI BERLIN i storbyjunglen!

Her introducerer vi dig for nye spisesteder og kreative restauratører, hvis koncepter forener gourmet med kant. Vi besøger bugnende madmarkeder, med masser af økologi og masser af lokale varer. Vi taler med passionerede kaffe-vin-mad-folk og hører deres historier. Vi undersøger mad-, drikke-, indretning- og start-up-scenen.

Vi åbner døre man normalt ikke finder, i baggårde man som regel ikke bevæger sig ind i – og smager selvfølgelig på alle de fundne skatte på vores vej.

Berlin er en vidunderlig, pulserende og stemningsfyldt storby! Byen byder på kreative iværksættere, inspirerende miljøer, cool udstillingssteder, en vild og omskiftelig historie – og i disse år en utrolig levende og spændende madscene. Berlin er det perfekte spot at tjekke ud og dykke ned i, hvis du ønsker at blive inspireret. Du kan ikke undgå at få nye idéer og du vil med stor glæde undre dig over hvor sjove og skæve nogle projekter kan være.

FOOD SAFARI BERLIN arrangeres tre gange i sensommeren/efteråret 2014:
#1: Torsdag og fredag 11-12 september.
#2: Torsdag og fredag 25-26 september.
#3: Torsdag og fredag 23-24 oktober.

FOOD SAFARI BERLIN er for dig, der er entusiastisk omkring mad – og som elsker at udforske nye og anderledes madtendenser. Du arbejder måske i madbranchen og søger ny inspiration til din café, restauration eller dit madprojekt.

Du kan også være så interesseret i mad og alt det gode, der kan følge med i slipstrømmen af et godt måltid, at du bare må se hvad en by som Berlin byder på af (gourmet)overraskelser.

Ønsker du en speciel FOOD SAFARI BERLIN for dine madentusiastiske medarbejdere eller kolleger, er du også velkommen til at kontakte os – vi tilrettelægger gerne en særskilt safari for jeres virksomhed.

HVEM STÅR BAG?
Helle Marietta og Jørgen Smidstrup flyttede deres design og kommunikationsvirksomhed, Lower East, til Berlin i 2011 og har udforsket den “arm, aber sexy“ storby lige siden. De driver også Lower East Lab (design studio, workshop, madevents og meget mere) og madkonceptet Camillos Kitchen (pop up restaurant, kogebog mm). Peter Mørk og Louise Pri fra Volcano Concepts arbejder med forretningsudvikling og rådgivning af virksomheder, samt professionalisering af de kreative erhverv – og er særligt begejstret for at udvikle koblingen mellem gourmet, kreativitet og forretning.
Lower East og Volcano Concepts arrangerer, faciliterer og er værter på FOOD SAFARI BERLIN.

HER ER DEALEN
• På Dag 1 starter vi i Lower East Lab i Kreuzberg – lab’et bliver vores faste samlingssted.
• Vi vil være en gruppe på 12-15 nysgerrige og mad-interesserede mennesker.
• Safarien foregår på cykler, til fods, i U-Bahn eller taxa hvis nødvendigt – og igen på cykler, den mest fornøjelige måde at udforske byen på, stoppe op, opleve og tage videre.
• Vi vil have tid til at følge vores næser, vores intuition og indskydelser og nyde ’essensen’ af Lower East’s hidtidige udforskninger i Berlin.
• I Lower East Lab kan vi lytte og diskutere, dele inspiration og inputs med hinanden. Vi vil have tid til at reflektere, dele, snakke, skitsere, grine og nyde.
• På Dag 2 afslutter vi safarien fra kl 17.00 til 18.00 med et glas “på gensyn” vin.

Sammen med Camillos Kitchen sætter vi en legende og inspirerende middag sammen den første aften til en Camillos Paladar. Paladaren er en pop-up restaurant primært i København, Berlin og Bern, med pragtfuld mad og fantastiske vine.

Efter safarien vil du modtage rig, visuel dokumentation på vores dage i Berlin.

ER DU KLAR TIL AT TAGE PÅ OPLEVELSE MED OS?

Pris for FOOD SAFARI BERLIN er 6.000 DKK.

Prisen inkluderer to dages mad og drikke i tidsrummet mellem kl 10:30 på den første dag til kl 18:00 på den anden dag. Leje af cykel, U-bahn billetter, samt møde- og køkkenfaciliteter er også inkluderet.
Ved tilmelding er det muligt tilkøbe en enkelt overnatning (enkeltværelse) mellem torsdag og fredag på et af vores udvalgte hoteller.

Tilmelding og betaling foregår her:
https://billetto.dk/food-safari-berlin-1
https://billetto.dk/food-safari-berlin-2
https://billetto.dk/food-safari-berlin-3

Vil du gerne tilbringe nogle ekstra dage i Berlin, før eller efter safarien (hvilket vi kun kan anbefale), så laver du selvfølgelig bare dit rejsearrangement derefter. Her fra er det bare at tømme hovedet og rydde kalenderen. Tag behageligt tøj og fodtøj med, din notesbog, et kamera, en paraply (for en sikkerheds skyld) og din tandbørste. Vi glæder os til at tage på safari med dig!

Deadline for tilmelding to uger før start.

Vil du vide mere? Kontakt Jørgen Smidstrup (js@lowereast.dk, tel +45 4063 6899) eller Louise Pri (louise@volcano.nu, tel +45 2266 0773).

Camillo’s Kitchen

“Artist in Residence“. Sounds good, right? The City of Stockholm, Sweden has been so kind to give Lower East a stay in “Villa Bergshyddan“, a cosy looking house at the waterfront in Stockholm. From May 12 to May 18 we will be working very concentrated on the writing and the designing of the cookbook “Camillos Køkken – mad der får folk til at tale sammen“ (“Camillo’s Kitchen – food that make people talk together“).

The books front page is more or less finished – and some weeks ago we where in Firenze and Bologna, Italy to write, get inspired and take more photos for the book. See examples below.

 

 

Urban Safari Berlin September 2013

Obama was here in June. John F. Kennedy back in 1963, 40,000 runners ran the Berlin Marathon this year, Berlin Pride 2013 attracted about 800,000 participants and spectators. Up til now more than 35 adventurous people have been on Urban Safari in Berlin.

Now it’s your turn! Come join us on an intense 2day safari into this urban jungle. We have on September 12 and 13 put together a journey for you with special focus on inspiring business, creative spaces, the co-working scene and sparkling start-ups. (If the dates doesn’t fit your calendar, the next Safari is planned to October 28 and 29).

The vibrant metropole Berlin, is right now a melting pot of start-ups, young entrepreneurs, fresh ideas, inspiring atmospheres, cool exhibition venues, cosy cafés & restaurants and just amazing corners. A perfect spot to explore, make you smile, think of (old and) new ideas, wonder about how funny & crazy some ideas can be – and simply enjoy the love for new, small and bigger beautiful things.

The Urban Safari is a co-creative initiative of changels (Bern) and Lower East (Berlin).

Helle Marietta and Jørgen Smidstrup have based their design company, Lower East, in Berlin since the end of 2011 and have been exploring the “arm, aber sexy“ city ever since. Matti Straub-Fischer, from changels, have after several visits insisted on creating an opportunity for others to dig into this diverse mix of creativity, design and playfulness. Together they organize and host the Urban Safari Berlin – first one held in November ‘12 and again in April and May ‘13.

This is the deal:

• We will start on Thursday morning, September 12, 2013, at 10:00 in our classroom, in a coworking space in Berlin.
• We will be a group of around 15 curious and interesting people like yourself. Invitations will be spread with sure hands in Switzerland, Austria, Germany and in Scandinavia.
• We will be safaring on bikes, and on foot, by U-Bahn and again on bikes – the most fun way to explore and stop and go again.
• We will have time to follow our noses, our instincts, enjoy the crème-de-la-crème of the Lower East and changels exploration so far in this town.
• We will have a space, where we can listen and discuss – and share inspiration and our inputs.
• We will have time to reflect, to talk, to draw, to sketch, to laugh and to enjoy.
• We will be done by Friday afternoon, September 13, 2013 at 17:00. Here we finish up at a (start-up &) very cosy winebar NOR (not only riesling) in Kreuzberg with a glass of ‘see you again’ wine.

Matti, Helle and Jørgen will be your scouts, hosts and the facilitators for the Urban Safari.

Together with Camillos Paladar, we will all put up a playful and inspiring dinner on Thursday night. Camillos Paladar is a pop-up (mostly in Copenhagen, Berlin and Bern) dinner concept with gorgeous food and remarkable wines. That alone is worth the journey. By chance, Mr. Camillo is similar to Mr. Smidstrup.

Are you ready for this adventure with us?

Here is the small-printed stuff:

• You sign up with an e-mail to Jørgen Smidstrup or Matti Straub. ASAP – it is first come, first serve.
• You book your own flight or travels to Berlin. You book your own overnight stays. We suggest you some beautiful places like Hüttenpalast, Casa Camper or IMA Lofts. We can get you in contact with some cool private flats as well.
• Your costs will be €700 (as a private or a one woman/man company) or € 950 (if the company pays) for the two days in the urban jungle with food and drinks included for the time between Thursday, 10:00 to Friday, 17:00. Bike rentals, U-Bahn tickets, and the meeting and kitchen facilities are covered in this.
• Empty your head. Bring comfortable clothes and shoes, your notebook, some kind of a camera, some coloured pens, an umbrella (just in case) and your toothbrush.
• And if you want to peek, here are a few marbles… www.huettenpalast.de, www.imalofts.com, www.casacamper.com/berlin, www.prinzessinnengarten.net, www.betahaus.de, www.agoracollective.org

If you like, you can of course invite a dear friend or your partner to enjoy the weekend after with you in this mind-boggling place.

Feel free to share this invitation to other potential safarists – and to contact us for any questions. changels www.changels.ch
Matti Straub-Fischer matti@changels.ch
Lower East www.lowereast.dk
Helle Marietta helle@lowereast.dk Jørgen Smidstrup js@lowereast.dk