Where architecture, education, and ideas converge

In the atmospheric setting of the Berlin Advent season, the Salon & Trade Fair SCHULBAU opened its doors for an evening full of dialogue, creativity, and visions for the future. A warm welcome with drinks, conversation, and a touch of Berlin salon culture set the stage for an event that brought together people who want to rethink education and architecture.

An atmospheric start: Admission & Welcome Drinks

The first hour of the evening invited guests to arrive, raise a glass, and exchange ideas. Guests took the opportunity to engage with one another in a relaxed atmosphere before the first substantive impulses followed. In a series of concise short presentations, five experts offered new insights into current projects spanning education, sustainability, and urban development, with a particular focus on renovation and serial construction:

Julian Weyer, Partner at C.F. Møller Architects in Aarhus and Copenhagen, spoke about sustainable educational architecture and urban projects that are shaping cityscapes across Europe.
Svenja Ksoll, School Project Coordinator at the German Toilet Organization in Berlin, demonstrated how topics such as sanitary infrastructure can become an integral part of modern learning spaces through commitment and creativity.
Prof. Xaver Egger, Managing Partner of SEHW Architects in Berlin, reported on current Berlin projects and spoke about architecture’s responsibility for social change.
Robert Grimm, Director of Delivery CPH, and Frederik Lyng, Partner at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), presented current school buildings as well as projects involving renovation and transformation in educational construction.
Janina Zerbe, Creative Director & Partner at KHR Architecture in Copenhagen, and Detert Renner, Managing Director of Renner Architects in Berlin, provided insights into German-Danish cooperation—using the integrated secondary school Am Breiten Luch in Berlin as an example.
The room filled with exchange, networking, and a variety of new perspectives, accompanied by refreshing drinks and small snacks in the style of a true Berlin salon.

In a cozy, almost living-room-like atmosphere,
Kirsten Jung, host and founder of the SCHULBAU trade fair, led the sofa discussion.
Together with the speakers, she discussed the evening’s guiding question:

“What can Berlin move forward now?”

In doing so, she drew on central ideas from the workshops and opened the floor for an open dialogue about attitude, responsibility, and the future of building for education.

Ideas Workshop: Thinking the Future Together

In five groups, all participants developed their own impulses and visions based on specified main topics. This resulted in lively discussions, new approaches, and several ideas that already look far ahead into the year 2026.
The evening concluded with music, good food, and numerous inspiring conversations. It was an event where people stayed, laughed, continued to think, and together sketched out the future of educational construction.