For eight centuries, Spain was a Muslim country.

During the whole middle ages, most of its culture was completely defined by the Arab heritage. Many features of that time still survive in modern Spain. Among them, the costume of hygiene and constant bathing, together with all water related technologies: irrigation, gardening, reflections, water follies and other ways of managing the scarcity of water proper to oasis and dessert life.

Basurama teams up with ALAS Berlin to study and enjoy that knowledge for creating our own ludic water games and engines for all ages through Andalusi Wasserspiele building collaboratively wheels, cascades, fountains and ponds.

“From May to September 2018 raumlaborberlin created an inner city offshore laboratory for collective, experimental learning. At the rainwater retention pool of the former airport Tempelhof a life-size experiment took place to challenge routines and habits of urban practices – Floating University Berlin.

Student groups from more than twenty international universities together with artists from all over the world, local experts, architects, and dancers came to Berlin. Within critical research seminars, design build courses or mapping classes concerned with the geographic, social and ecological environment they researched practices of urban living, formulate visions and ideas for a better future city and created spaces for communication and commoning.

This booklet documents the research process of Basurama and ALAS Berlin‘s Andalusi Wasserspiele in the context of the Floating University Berlin, a project of raumlaborberlin.”

Floating University Berlin, raumlaborberlin, summer 2018.

For two weeks in summer we had the pleasure of working together with the Floating University Berlin and raumlabor and of course all the people who came to volunteer, learn, collaborate and have fun building and playing with the water games we proposed.