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Discussion series "Please Irritate Me!"

An insight starts with curiosity, but it often ends with irritation. Knowledge that suspends our perception and judgment routines can irritate us. At the same time, it motivates us to question the familiar. Along with the audience, we want to be irritated by unusual research questions, original approaches, and the latest findings that challenge existing theoretical frameworks. And the project partners Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft and Die Junge Akademie are interested in topics that have either been neglected or have never been researched, including outlying, unapparent, and surprising subjects.

a man with dark hair and mustache — Photo: Johanna Heim

Please Irritate Me #4 - Order and irritation (with Benedikt Hartl)
In German

Tuesday, 25.03.2025, 19:00–20:30 Uhr

Deutsches Architektur Zentrum DAZ, Wilhelmine-Gemberg-Weg 6, 2. Hof / Eingang H1, 10179 Berlin

Whether he is drawing up plans to transform Buckingham Palace into affordable housing, designing a hotel made from sections of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, or a plastic recycling plant instead of an ocean museum, Benedikt Hartl’s designs tend to irritate people. In conversation with Peter-André Alt, he explains how breaking the rules can foster innovation and why we need a radical rethink in construction and urban planning.

“Being irritating is a business principle at Opposite Office,” says Benedikt Hartl, talking about his architecture studio. Opposite Office’s projects are global sensations and, on occasion, international TV crews have stood outside the firm’s Munich office to report on its latest designs. But for Benedikt Hartl, media attention is not an end in itself. His aim is to raise the profile of architecture as a powerful force for creativity in social transformation processes and to spark debates about sustainability. His designs challenge current standards and seek radical solutions to social and environmental challenges, such as climate change. Genuine sustainability, he points out, does not require technology or laws – it calls for more intelligent use of existing resources and a willingness to challenge existing standards and promote the conversion of existing buildings rather than the construction of new ones. As well as attracting media attention, Hartl’s architectural designs have earned him insults and personal criticism. In this interview he explains how he tackles these challenges and talks about the daily contradictions he encounters in his work as an architect.

Please register on the website of the Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft.

The event will be held in German.

Please Irritate Me #3 - Modeling our world (with Viola Priesemann, 05.11.2024)

Please Irritate Me #2 - Fake News and meat consumption in antiquity (with Christopher Degelmann,01.10.2024)

Please Irritate Me #1 - Money from nothing (with Andrea Binder, 24.04.2024)

participating Members

- Andrea Binder
  
  person_research_subject
  
  International Political Economy
  
  institution
  
  Freie Universität Berlin
  
  E-mail
  
  andrea.binder@fu-berlin.de
- Christopher Degelmann
  
  person_research_subject
  
  Ancient History
  
  institution
  
  Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
  
  Phone
  
  +49 30 2093-70511
  
  E-mail
  
  christopher.degelmann@hu-berlin.de
- Viola Priesemann
  
  person_research_subject
  
  Physics
  
  institution
  
  Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation
  
  Phone
  
  +49 551 5176-405
  
  E-mail
  
  viola.priesemann@ds.mpg.de

Activities

- Please Irritate Me: Order and irritation
  
  How can breaking the rules foster innovation and why do we need a radical rethink in construction and urban planning?
  
  Peter-André Alt talks to architect Benedikt Hartl about how breaking the rules can foster innovation and why we need a radical rethink in construction and urban planning.
  
  Topics:
  - Event
  - science communication
  Starts on
  
  25.03.25
  
  Ends on
  
  25.03.25
  
  Event access: Public
  
  Deutsches Architektur Zentrum DAZ
  Wilhelmine-Gemberg-Weg 6, 2. Hof / Eingang H1
  10179 Berlin
  
  19:00 — 20:30
- Please Irritate Me: Modeling our world
  
  Peter-André Alt in conversation with physicist Viola Priesemann, talking about parallels between neural and social networks, the informative value of models, and the philosophical and social implications of her research.
  
  Topics:
  - Event
  - science communication
  Starts on
  
  05.11.24
  
  Ends on
  
  05.11.24
  
  Event access: Public
  
  BRICKS Club Berlin
  Mohrenstr. 30
  10117 Berlin
  Link
  
  18:30 — 20:00
- Please Irritate Me: Fake news and meat consumption in antiquity
  
  Covering the fresh perspective of a young ancient historian, new methods in ancient history, and the ability to be amazed. Peter-André Alt in conversation with Christopher Degelmann.
  
  Topics:
  - Event
  - society
  - Europe
  Starts on
  
  01.10.24
  
  Event access: Public
  
  BRICKS Club Berlin
  Mohrenstr. 30
  10117 Berlin
  Link
  
  19:00 — 21:00
- Please Irritate Me: Money from nothing
  
  Public discussion series by Die Junge Akademie and the Wübben Stiftung Wissenschaft: Peter-André Alt talks with guests about new perspectives in science and research. Series of events kicks off with Andrea Binder.
  
  Tax havens are not only used to hide financial assets, but also to increase them. Political scientist Andrea Binder investigates how this works and why this practice is so precarious. Global banks headquartered in Germany and elsewhere use offshore financial centers such as the Cayman Islands to hand out cheap loans in US dollars to other banks, corporations, and companies around the world. With every loan that is disbursed in US dollars, the offshore banks increase US dollar supply, they ‘create foreign currency’. This process is subject neither to financial supervision nor to political control, undermines rules that would apply to banks in their home markets, and contributes to increasing inequality.
  
  Topics:
  - Event
  - society
  - Europe
  Starts on
  
  24.04.24
  
  Event access: Public
  
  Berliner Sparkasse
  Alexanderplatz 2
  10178 Berlin
  Link
  
  19:00

Please Irritate Me #4 - Order and irritation (with Benedikt Hartl) In German