Collaboratory

The Collaboratory, a digital open space, was developed at the Lenbachhaus in 2021. The aim of this project was to overcome social distancing and create a space for interaction and collaborative activities.

The equipment of the virtual space is planned in modules, which will be added step by step. Each module has its own functionalities, is designed with a specific audience in mind, and addresses a set of issues, work of art, or question. All of them are developed in consultation with art educators, artists, and designers and tested with users. Those are invited to become active themselves, for example by uploading their own pictures or exchanging information about a live event via chat. This lets many and diverse voices and narratives become part of the Lenbachhaus. Gamification approaches make the digital space intuitive and entertaining to experience and encourage further discovery. This participatory approach is pivotal to all applications within the Collaboratory and reflects the paradigm shift that defines the contemporary media experience: the internet lets users step outside the role of passive consumers and become actively involved.

Due to the pandemic, the Lenbachhaus has been closed time and again since March 2020. Even now, we are limited in the extent to which we can communicate with our visitors in person at the museum. Hoping to tap the potentials that digital media offer as we pursue the educational mission that museums have in our society, we propose to put novel forms of digital interaction to the test. Complementing the museum’s traditional home, new wing, and garden and the Kunstbau exhibition space, the Collaboratory is to become the Lenbachhaus’s fifth venue.

To the Collaboratory (German)

Design, programming, hosting & maintenance of the website
Serve and Volley Studio
Klaus Neuburg Simon Roth GbR, Cologne

in Collaboration with
Brauchbarkeit
Höfflin / Reiff GbR, Cologne

The Collaboratory is developed as part of the German Federal Cultural Foundation's "dive in. Programme for Digital Interactions," with funding support from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM)’s program NEUSTART KULTUR.

Detailed Project Description