Back To Nature – The Right Way

nature

Spending your vacation next to thousands of other vacationers was a daunting idea even before the Corona virus outbreak. Together with an inner human need to get back to nature, travel behavior is slowly but surely changing. aware_ met Julian Trautwein for an interview – he is co-founder of Raus, a Berlin-based start-up that meets […]

The Importance of Protecting Berlin’s Market Culture

market culture

Rewe, Edeka, Aldi and Lidl supply almost 90% of the German population with its groceries. Devastatingly, the cheap transport costs, competitive pricing and a culture of convenience have seen supermarkets steamroller traditional market culture. As a direct consequence, 30% of Berlin’s independent butchers and bakeries have been forced to close over the last 10 years. […]

German Design Awards: 10 Years of Innovative Awards

design awards

The German Design Awards celebrate its tenth anniversary this year. aware_ has taken a look at this year’s award winners and presents five exciting products and projects.  For aware_, sustainability and aesthetics go hand in hand. A sustainable lifestyle does not have to be pursued with a raised forefinger, nor does it have to be […]

An Introduction to Passive House Design

aware_ explores Passive House, the building standard for energy efficiency, and sits down with IdS/R architecture and OPAL, two US-based architects working with Passive House design. In October 1973, Saudi Arabia announced an oil embargo, targeting countries which had supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War – Canada, the UK and the USA were amongst the […]

The Rise of Rental

rental

As we learn more about the damaging effect waste is having on our planet, is it time to go rental? The Friday night Blockbuster experience was a cornerstone of a 90s, early 2000s childhood. Stores laid with worn blue carpet, plastic buckets bursting with bags of sweets and popcorn, and rows upon rows of VHS […]

5 Unforgettable Eco-Homes

You might remember back in 2020 the ‘controversy’ around Gigi Hadid’s New York apartment, when the supermodel posted pictures of her recently transformed home on Instagram. Giant pen sculptures lent against walls, coloured penne entrapped in glass kitchen cupboard doors, and garish cushions, were quickly etched into the minds of her 68 million followers. Despite […]

The Vertical Forest by Stefano Boeri

Whilst the pandemic saw populations flee for greener pastures, the award-winning architect Stefano Boeri is introducing nature into city life.   An appreciation for the natural world was instilled in the internationally renowned architect Stefano Boeri at a young age. As a child, Boeri lived in a house outside of Milan deliberately integrated into the surrounding […]

Interview with Interior Designer Amy Brandhorst

As many have endured over a year surrounded by the same four walls, the work of the London-Berlin-based interior designer Amy Brandhorst has never been more vital.    After beginning her career as one half of the design service Topology Interiors, Brandhorst has gone on establish herself as an interior designer in demand, with recent collaborations including […]

A City of the Future

With climate change, demographic change, and digitalization, cities are facing numerous challenges. In 2003, Germany underwent an extreme heatwave lasting weeks and causing many deaths. Ever since, devastating floods caused by days of unusually heavy rain and other for the past unusual climate catastrophes became more commonplace due to global warming and it is continuing […]

Sigurd Larsen – A Danish Design Story

As an architect from Denmark the 39 year old Sigurd Larsen is one of the most asked designers for sustainable houses and furnitures. With his team in Berlin, he designs sustainable and timeless projects. Protocol of a conversation. Hello Sigurd, tell us who you are and what are you doing? I am an architect, so […]