Meet Mirco - our member of the month in October!
Introduction round: Who are you and where are you from?
I am Mirco, an architect specialised in computational design. That means I write code to design in 3D, simulate and fabricate ‘not-your-normal-building'. I grew up in Kassel, a mid size German city, back then just 20 km west of the iron curtain.
What made you come to Berlin?
I moved here when my daughter was born in 2012, after having lived in London for 10 years. My partner lived in Berlin before, for me it was strangely familiar territory - a city I only knew as visitor and a culture which had moved on while I was away.
What exactly do you do? What's in the pipeline for the near future?
The core service of informance is “computational design”: I bridge the gap between the extravagantly unique and the affordable by computing the design of buildings, furniture, jewellery within the limits of material, engineering and production.
In short bringing back the bespoke quality of traditional crafts by means of digital fabrication.
The other me is Professor Mirco Becker, I just started a position at the Leibniz Universität Hannover where I research and teach digital methods in architecture - expect robots to 3D-print the interior of your apartment.
Since when do you cowork at mobilesuite Coworking Berlin?
I started in early 2012 while working on value engineering the facade design of a 650.000 m² airport in Abu Dhabi. A few months later my partner and her team set up shop in the mobilesuite too to kickstart the German operations for a UK online retailer while waiting for their office to be fitted out.
What is the benefit of using a coworking space for you?
When you think about it, it is almost bizarre to work singlehanded from a laptop in Pappelallee on the design of large complex buildings together with global firms in London, New York, UAE who have hundreds of employees. A coworking space helps me to get over that mind-twist by creating a professional environment of likeminded people.
Which questions / problems could you help your coworking neighbour with?
Taking that they don’t build airports or expressive TV towers the skills of computational design apply to everything where one needs customisation on a larger scale. Whenever the design or fabrication could be cast in rules: A pop-up store as a kit of parts which fits into a suitcase, a web configurator for 3D content, or a deck of 1000 business cards where each one is unique.
Do you have favourite spots in Berlin? Something to recommend / consider especially for people coming here?
Here are my personal three favourites:
Hokey Pokey has by far the best ice cream in the neighbourhood if not the best in Berlin.
The running track at Jahn Sport Park is fantastic for short intense works-outs and free to use.
St. Agnes in Kreuzberg a former church and community centre. It is now home of König Galerie located in the nave surrounded by small offices and a lovely restaurant right next door. For me this is a perfect example of how Berlin could grow up without loosing its edge.
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Thanks a lot and all the best to you, Mirco!