​BRAVE ZONES

With brave zones Janina Janke investigates how physical spaces shape social contact between people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences. The project asks: under which atmospheric, architectural, and aesthetic conditions do encounters and forms of dialogue emerge—or fail to emerge?

The research focuses on everyday sites of encounter. Through field-based research the project examines how social interaction is spatially structured and emotionally framed. Based on these findings, Janina Janke develops experimental spatial settings for collective situations of exchange and reflection. These scenographic prototypes translate insights from everyday encounters into tools for rethinking how spaces for dialogue, negotiation, and shared attention can be designed.

The project is developed as part of a fellowship at the RIFS (Research Institute for Sustainability) in Potsdam, funded by the GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences.