Mayor Duggan considers proposals to make Detroit a destination for drag racing and techno

October 6, 2017

In a nondescript East Grand Boulevard building that houses the world’s lone techno museum, a group of renowned Detroit techno DJs and producers convened with big names from the street racing industry to promote turning the two vibrant scenes into economic drivers for the city. Theo Parrish was there. Omar-S was there. And, remarkably, so was Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who sat, listened, and asked how he could support. Read more!

The Potential Panel: How Can Art Influence the Discourse around Political Changes?

June 8, 2017

From 9 – 10 June 2017 the continuation of the event series Detroit-Berlin-Connection will take place under the name THE POTENTIAL. As in the past few years, the two-day symposium is dedicated to the creative exchange between Detroit and Berlin.

SPEAKERS: Mike Banks / Danielle de Picciotto / Natascha T. Miller / Adrian Tonon
MODERATOR: Katja Kullmann

The series is connected with the conference in Detroit (MOCAD 2014, 2015) as well as with the 2015 visitors to the Detroit delegation in Berlin. See the Event on the Tresor Berlin Website!

Detroit-Berlin-Connection presents: The 1st Berlin Soup

September 15, 2016

Die BERLIN SOUP ist ein Nachbarschafts- und Micro-Funding-Projekt und will auf eine zwanglose Art das Kennenlernen unter Nachbarn fördern.

Ab dem 25. September 2016 können Menschen aus Berlin im Turnus von zwei Monaten ihre kreativen Projektideen bei einem öffentlichen einfachen Suppenessen vorstellen und dafür ein Startkapital bekommen, das sich aus Spenden generiert. Der Schwerpunkt liegt zu Beginn auf den Bezirken Mitte, Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain.

Die BERLIN SOUP ist inspiriert von dem Modell in Detroit.

BERLIN SOUP ist:

  • ein öffentliches Suppenessen
  • eine soziale Plattform; sie verbindet Menschen und ihre Ideen
  • ein demokratisches Experiment in Micro-Funding
  • ein Ort der Diversität; verschiedenste kreative Gruppen kommen zusammen
  • eine Chance; kreative Menschen und ihre Projekte werden unterstützt

Für 5 Euro bekommen Gäste Suppe und Brot und eine Stimme, die sie abgeben können für eine von jeweils vier Präsentationen aus den Bereichen Kunst, urbane Landwirtschaft, soziales Engagement, Erziehung und Technologie.

Jeder Präsentator hat vier Minuten Zeit, um seine Idee zu teilen und um vier Fragen aus dem Publikum zu beantworten. Die beiden einzigen Regeln: Technische Hilfsmittel sind bei der Präsentation nicht erlaubt und die vorgestellten Projekte sollten Relevanz für Berlin besitzen. Die Gäste können sich während des Essens über die Projekte austauschen und dann ihr Lieblingsprojekt wählen. Ein Projekt mitten aus der Stadt für die Stadt!

Der Gewinner bekommt das Geld, welches eingenommen wurde für die Realisierung seiner Projektidee. In einem zukünftigen BERLIN SOUP Dinner berichten die Gewinner über den Fortschritt ihres Vorhabens.

Am 25. September findet die erste BERLIN SOUP im Kraftwerk Berlin statt.

ORT: Kraftwerk Berlin | Köpenicker Str. 70 | 10179 Berlin | Einlass: 17 Uhr | Beginn: 18 Uhr

Jeder der Interesse und Zeit hat, dieses Projekt zu unterstützen, ist herzlich eingeladen.

Infos:

Bewerbungen und Fragen an: soup@happylocals.org

Berlin Motor City

June 1, 2016

Techno brought Detroit and Berlin together after the fall of the wall. More than 20 years later it may hold the key to Detroit’s resurgence. Dimitri Hegemann walks across the snow-covered tomb to American industrial might. He’s here to give back to the city that gave the world techno and Hegemann his inspiration. Read more!

Handelsblatt Global portrays Dimitri Hegemann

September 8, 2015

The man behind the iconic Tresor techno club, Dimitri Hegemann, turned Berlin into a party metropolis. Now he wants to bring a cultural revolution to ailing Detroit.

Read the english adaptation of the article in Die Zeit here .

The Detroit Free Press on the Detroit delegations trip to Berlin

September 3, 2015

Just more than a week ago, the Detroit team — as well as Detroit city council members, architects, investors, and developers, plus Packard Plant owner Fernando Palazuelo — made their way to Berlin to observe how the city transformed itself from a post-war zone to one of Europe’s top cultural epicenters. The idea is to bring some of the concepts back to the Motor City. COntinue reading here ..

Electronic Beats on the delegation’s visit of Berlin

September 2, 2015

On Thursday September 20th a delegation from Detroit that included staff from the mayor’s office, the owner of one of the city’s most famous repurposed power plants and members of pioneering local techno group Underground Resistance arrived in Berlin for a four-day tour to discuss the potential benefits the Motor City may reap from investing in its creative industry. The Detroit-Berlin Connection (DBF) initiated the embassy in order to,according to its website, “show Detroit leaders the results of over 25 years of revitalization efforts, many of them based on outside-the-box tactics that include marketing Berlin’s round the clock bar service and temporary use of empty spaces for a variety of entrepreneurial opportunities.” Continue reading here

DBC Mid-Year Update

June 30, 2015

The Detroit-Berlin Connection (DBC) has been busy in the first half of 2015.

In May, with guests from both Detroit and Berlin, the DBC held its second annual conference at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). Presentations included an historical overview by Marsha Battle Philpot of Detroit’s Black Bottom and Paradise Valley entertainment district (sadly demolished for urban renewal projects including the I-75 and I-375 freeways); an introduction to the true meaning of techno by Cornelius Harris and John Collins of Underground Resistance; and a report from VisitBerlin on how the German capital has used its subcultural assets to become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. The conference was capped off by a public conversation with DBC founder Dimitri Hegemann, Packard Plant owner Fernando Palazuelo, Mario Husten of Berlin’s Holzmarkt and Detroit artist Scott Hocking. Much of the conversation was spent talking about the interest that Hegemann and Palazuelo have in entering a potential partnership to redevelop the former Fisher Body 21 Plant.

Continue reading

2nd Annual Conference at MoCAD

June 22, 2015

Detroit Supports the DBC!

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the Detroit-Berlin Connection 2nd Annual Conference at the MoCAD in Detroit.  Everyone came out in full force to support this project.  A special thank you to all of the people who participated in a panel or presentation.  We appreciate the staff at the MoCAD who really helped make this event a success! Please check out the rest of the photos from our conference.   Continue reading

Model D – How to keep Detroit weird and the 2nd DBC congres

May 27, 2015

It began by redefining what “techno” is and ended with a declaration that “we must keep Detroit weird.” In between, there were four hours of presentations, discussions, slides, and marketing strategies to promote “subcultural” assets and develop the city’s “night economy.”

The second Detroit-Berlin Connection conference, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) last Wednesday, offered outside-the-box ideas and actions to move Detroit forward. There were no heady monologues steeped in obscure theory. It was a solutions-based conference based around Detroit inspiration and simple ideas that work in Berlin.

Walter Wasac’s continues the story here ..

Detroitnews : The DBC fuels Detroit’s comeback

May 22, 2015

Detroit has been compared to a lot of things, but is it like Berlin, a city bombed out in World War II and then cut in half for more than 40 years?

The capital of Germany is a city of 3.4 million with a lot of things going on that Detroit would love to have. It’s the third most popular European city tourists flock to, behind London and Paris. It boasts more than 300 “places where music is played,” with many of those nightclubs. Read more here .

 

Metrotimes : MOCAD to host 2nd DBC conference

May 8, 2015

Urban planners in Detroit have been looking to Berlin for revitalization strategies based on artistic and entrepreneurial efforts. One such group is the Detroit-Berlin Connection, which has focused on the shared legacies of techno music between the two cities.

The group will host its second annual Detroit conference on May 20 at MOCAD. According to a release, “This free event is designed to challenge traditional views and boundaries in reaching new horizons and possibilities in Detroit, while involving community organizers and stakeholders, entrepreneurs, artists, and individuals from various backgrounds.” Read more here.

Detroit Free Press – An update

… concluding with Hegemanns Quotes : “Detroit needs a creative lighthouse,” and “We can at least start a discussion and ask questions like, ‘Could this work in Detroit?’ ” a great debate is being initiated. Read the full article here .

Beats and Beyond

December 12, 2014

The question is : Can Dimitri Hegemann bring Techno back to Detroit. The founder of legendary techno-haven Tresor in Berlin, has a new idea for a club in an abandoned car factory in the Motorcity. Well, if anyone can do it… Read the whole article here .

Model D : ‘More than just a place for a party,’ Berliner Dimitri Hegemann sees Detroit as place for new ideas

December 10, 2014

Walter Wasacz recaps the happenings and results of the week in Detroit from his and the cities perspective :

“For Dimitri Hegemann, who was in Detroit over Thanksgiving weekend to talk about his vision for the abandoned Fisher Body Plant 21, simplicity and sharing are guiding principles. He uses few filters when presenting his ideas, choosing transparency over secrecy, selflessness over ego-driven ambition. His message: this is about you, not me, Detroit not Berlin. ” Continue reading here.

Metrotimes

A look on the Fisher Body plans and the visit of the abandoned space with Detroit artist Skott Hocking. Find out more here.

The New York Times and the story of Berlin and Techno.

November 26, 2014

Jon Pareles is the chief pop music critic for The New York Times and took a deep look into its cities history and present – a very interesting read about the cities evolution and the roots of the techno generation here.