School of Machines, Making & Make-Believe began in 2014 from a desire to create more in-depth learning experiences in the areas of art, technology, and design, for women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ and other people often underrepresented in these spaces.

At the time, most classes being offered weren’t so in-depth nor diverse, which led us to wanting to design programs that are, not only teaching tech skills but cultivating a desire to create thoughtful and whimsical things while also helping humans connect to themselves and to each other.

Since 2015, we’ve been housed in ACUD Kunsthaus, a historic 19th century building that’s one of the few remaining independent art houses predating the fall of the Berlin Wall. This July, we decided to undertake our next challenge: expanding our location to include a beautiful space on the top floor.

To make it happen, we started a membership program that would give people living in or visiting Berlin access to our spaces with a lovely group of humans whose experience spans the areas of game design, generative art, mixed reality, new media art, interactive installation, sound design, photography, live-performance, 3D, visual anthropology, UI/UX, data, privacy, radio arts and more!

It is from these first gatherings of lovely, curious and like-minded humans, that Make-Believe Studio was recently born!

Our vision: an international group of artists, designers, technologists, scientists, researchers, activists, and the like, who care deeply about community, and co-creating a diverse, safe and sane space in the heart of Berlin for creative inquiry, shared learning, mutual support, artistic research, and playful experimentation. At the core of our efforts is a question: what makes a creative art tech community truly meaningful to its members, and how might we build a model that helps us care for one another through the absurdities of our time?

Currently, Make-Believe Studio, still in it’s infancy, is evolving into a dynamic space with two floors alive with ongoing activities, and an open invitation for members to discover and inhabit their own creative corners. These are shape-shifting spaces, evolving and flexible, where members can nurture their ideas, processes, and experiments, allowing unexpected connections and new forms of expression to emerge.

Wanna join us?

From 26. August until 31. August, we are currently accepting membership applications! Apply below!