christian von steffelin: views from above

before the end of last year we wanted to have some nice large format pictures of PLATOON, especially some from above.

so we invited our good friend Christian von Steffelin to create some of his breathtaking artworks on our site… as he already did some years ago
on our old PLATOON area.







me and Christian met on a very gray and gloomy day, which by the way is one of his favourite weather condition for creating his very expressive style of photography,















it took us a while to figure out how to get on the roof in front of our headquarters… but thanks to Doreen, one of our neighbours, who kindly allowed us to climb from her balcony, we finally managed to get there.














after setting up the tripod and the camera Christian stayed observing and pondering for a while, trying to find the best perspective from which to shoot....it felt like being a sniper looking after his target...














then suddenly, as if we were in the late nineteenth century, he sneaked under a dark cloth and CLICK...the first image was forever impressed on film...and it was the only one he did. in fact he really doesn’t repeat himself. one shot is enough...he is not like some digital snapshot accumulators...what he does, is a work of art.












the view from above was terrific…in the real sense of the word. definitely not something for the fainthearted. and for Christian, who actually does suffer a bit of vertigo, it wasn´t as easy as you might think.















Christian shoots with his large format wista rf 45 baseboard camera, which is originally used for mobile architecture, very similar to the horseman 45 model. also referred to as view camera following the early photograph type developed by louis Daguerre in 1839. it´s a very fascinating device.











thank you Christian for the fantastic experience, i really enjoyed it...and thanks again for the pictures, we appreciate them very much!















*Christian von Steffelin´s website is under construction, but we will post the link as soon as it is ready!
in the meantime check out the pictures he did for the now vanished palast der republik (palace of the repupbic)...and at the same time you can also read about this historical building, which for many years was a vibrant centre for the arts here in berlin.

PLATOON´s 8th anniversary

what a wicked party!!!
the 8th anniversary of PLATOON was a complete success!
we had a blasting party with lots of wonderful guests, incredible tasty food, hilarious perfomances and rivers of booze.








for the occasion we also opened our brand new two containers on the ground floor, which we used as lounge so our guest could have a chance to introduce themselves before stepping into the madness of the „schuppen“ bar.













Daniel, the chef, surpassed any expactations this time around; all of us were delighted to taste his delicious food, a blend between traditional german food and a touch of korean specialities....we had in fact a very special visit from seoul. the whole new PLATOON.seoul crew pleased us with their presence and i have to say that we all loved them very much. they all are totally groovy and we had so much fun together.
























the bar was really cosy and just the right place to enjoy the PLATOON vibe...there were little details around the room reminding to all the succesful missions PLATOON has accomplished during this years. it felt like home to the platoonies.













Anna and Olly, our resident visual-artist and muscian, performed their live act SONI RIOT...and kept everyone shaking their booties all night long.




























we also had a performance by Hela-Helen Plewis who just came from london and really wanted to perform for us here in PLATOON. well i didnt know much about her but her enthusiasm was certainly infectious...so we decided to let her surprise us...and well, she totally did! here a little taste of her anti-burlesque performance....





























im sure our korean friends had hips of fun as well...just look how Eva is gorgeously smiling here.



(a proper introduction of all our korean friends and their visit to berlin will follow very soon in another article)









but before that we want to thank again Soo for traveling all this way to come and meet us here in berlin. she is the cheerful lady you can see standing between Tom and his brother Dirk and thanks to her we will realize an incredible project in Seoul. a kunsthalle made of containers with a highlight on subculture and its impact on the art sphere. it will be very unique, one of its kind. but i dont want to say too much about it now. thanks so much Soo for believing in us and for joining us for this celebrations! we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.






well, and as every party known in PLATOON history, it ended up very very late... lets say in the early hours...

















the rest i leave... to your imagination.

protect system

and everyday we keep adding some new features to our headquarters.

until now it was almost too easy to access our site...it was in fact completely open to the street.








but this morning we attached a protect system to our staircase.

Mr Gunter Weber, from Layher scaffolding sytems came to sort this out....













with the help of Stefan of course, our building master, who is always eager to do some craftwork on our site....after all it was also thanks to him and his construction expertise that we managed to move our containers so quickly.


























and today as well the job was done in less then one hour.
















thanks lads...now we are also bulletproof!

views of PLATOON

Well, we could say that our new area is slowly getting into shape...and it already feels as if we naturally belonged to this spot.










the cold winter is approaching, but in our container it´s fortunately very cosy and warm...and before starting a hard day at work we always enjoy a little chat&coffee in the morning whilst sitting on our new heavy weapon benches.

although sitting there makes you an easy target for passer-byers...in fact our headquarters have suddenly become a tourist attraction...it doesnt pass one hour without someone snapping a cheeky picture at us while we work.







so today I thought I´ll have a walk and make some pictures as well... there wasn´t much to see until recently afterall...




































































despite the lads being back in Seoul, we keep very busy over here...and thanks to modern communication we are actually constantly in touch with them via skype....

today we also had a new entry: Philipp ... but I shall leave him the pleasure of introducing himself within the coming weeks...it´s just fair enough...everyone deserves some time to digest our philosophy before getting into action.










also the upper container isnt that quite....Heidrun and Aleks are always on the move.
















this is our Bar, well we had just one party in it but soon we´ll throw another one....so for all of you PLATOON.members in Berlin, keep in touch...you don´t want to miss it out, do you?































the view from our window is brilliant....and of course we can still see ALEX, the Berlin tv-tower....we got so used to it from our last place; and you know what, there is no better view to remind you where you actually are...especially if you work in a place that can vanish in one day and appear somewhere completely different the day after.










more updates about the PLATOON.area will follow soon.

work in progress

despite the fact we moved a month ago, the PLATOON.area is still a work in progress.











our two new containers are being converted into office space, for this reason some very good friends of PLATOON came directly from freiburg for sorting out the insulation.















Niels and his team worked constantly for days trying to cope with their hungovers in the day and going out partying every night... as it should be.

































Andreas, the blacksmith, cut the containers at one side for them to be connected in a L shape.















the space looks great already. we are just waiting for the next team to give it the final touch.















we also decided to move our PLATOON.pool on the side, it was a bit too crowded in front of the Bar.

















now everything seems to get into shape and we can´t wait to enjoy the results of such hard working days.
















in the meantime the lads, Tom&Christoph, are on a mission in asia. the upper container seems very quite, but in reality PLATOON is always prepared to face the storm.

a short weather-break

seeing as not many members are drawn to the water at the moment, we´ll be leaving the pool area closed for the week-end.

the lawn is recovering, splendidly!


and we´ll organise another concert and consequent party soon...infact the two semi-final concerts send their greetings

another question to all those visiting our area: have you taken any nice pictures? then please send them to us!
we want to make a small documentation
about this wicked World Cup.

it would be cool if there were some pictures of you included...thank you!


da es im moment nicht sehr viele vereinmitglieder ins wasser treibt lassen wir das pool-gelände dieses wochenende geschlossen. der rasen erholt sich prächtig!

und bald werden wir mal wieder eine konzert mit party veranstalten! die beiden halbfinal-konzerte lassen grüssen..

noch eine frage an alle besucher des geländes:
habt ihr schöne fotos gemacht? dann schickt sie uns!
wir wollen eine kleine dokumentation der geilen wm machen. wäre doch toll, wenn da auch bilder von euch drin sind! danke!



*photo . andreas mühe . the aim of design

THE POOL SEASON BEGINS

since the summer hasn't seemed to left us yet, we want to place our cooling pool at the disposal to all the members with heat stroke.


POOL . HEAT . CHILL . DRINKS

FRIDAY: 14:00 bis open end
SATURDAY: 14:00 bis open end (JUNGLEBAR?)
SUNDAY: 14:00 bis open end


Well, during the World Cup we have always had many intresting characters in the Platoon complex, so we thought we could make the place a great meeting spot once again ;-)


We are looking forward to it


**members only (don´t forget your dogtag)
**membership for a day: 2e



da der sommer uns nicht zu verlassen scheint, wollen wir allen hitzegeschädigten vereinsmitgliedern unseren kühlenden pool zur verfügung stellen!


da wir zur WM ja auch immer viele nette leute auf dem hof hatten, könnte das doch wieder ein schönes come-together werden ;-)

wir freuen uns!

PLATOON SAYS: THANK YOU!

It has been a really nice World Cup with you all....the weather, the many parties, the good vibes... and not to forget our fantastic team and our many new members!

now we´ll first need to have a break --- just to cool down! but already next week we´ll get in contact with you to let you know how it goes on from here...with our area... swimming etc...

THANKS AGAIN




PLATOON SAGT: DANKE!

es war eine wirklich tolle wm.. mit euch allen zusammen.. dem wetter.. den vielen parties.. der guten stimmung.. dem tollen team.. und den vielen neuen mitgliedern!

jetzt machen wir erst einmal pause - ausdampfen!

aber schon nächste woche melden wir uns bei euch, wie es mit unserem areal weitergeht.. schwimmen etc.

DANKE NOCHMAL!