What are the (hotel)iers? Zwischenkolloquium

Job profiles & Job Spaces & make it happen!

The low budget attitude drives towards new jobs, new tasks and unique spaces.

The time between Take 2 and the Zwischen-Kolloqium was a time for the project people to go further in the hotel project's different themes. One main focus here was that question of how and with whom the hotel would function. Indeed, what is the job of a hotelier?

The project people divided the task into three groups, Sanitary, Reception, Food. Those three where the ongoing groups since the sleeping group was included into reception and the socialization group into sanitary.

Sanitary? – "What's important is the job profile!"

Based on Take 1 and Take 2, the sanitary group focused on two main tasks. One was developing unconventional and new job profiles which would be necessary to maintain the hygienic facilities. The second task was contacting experts and local actors who could share their knowledge and experience with us. This practice allowed us to get in contact with local actors, and also inspired new ideas for sanitary facilities of the hotel.
Unconventional job profiles, which combined otherwise mundane tasks to form new profiles, could appeal to locals. Giving names such as Wonderwoman or Master of Desaster was the first step in developing new job combinations. For example, those taking care of the sanitary facilities' maintenance could also be a DJ or at the reception. Flexible, diverse and allowing everyone to expand on their strengths and creativity were the job profiles we were striving towards in our hotel.
Simultaneously ,we met with different people from Wilhlemsburg and Hamburg who could share their expertise about dry toilets, and DIY-saunas. We also met locals like DJ Plastikstuhl who provided us with valuable information and expanded our local network. Local wellness, fitness and sanitary providers in the vicinity of the UdN were mapped and contacted. The Wednesday dinners then provided a pleasant atmosphere for potential collaborators to meet with students and provide us with information, opening the platform for future collaboration during the hotel.

Reception – "finding a way to make it work. "

The administration is a significant staff factor. This scenario sees identity building and buddy function as more important than the procedural organization. So the administration process will be rationalized by our Online-System.
Traditional mailbox meets online booking system: Each capsular has its stylish spy mailbox which can be unlocked by a code similar to a bicycle lock. In the course of the online-booking procedure, the guest gets the code by SMS. The mailbox contains besides hygiene stuff (identical to a passenger-kid + house shoes) information about IBA and UDN-Projekt and glass for the welcome drink which has to be filled immediately at the bar (champagne glass e.g.). The Concierge has a good time by letting guests having a good time and the other way around. The bar is where the first contact takes place and gives the guest an impression about the hotel's infrastructure.

Concierge as the identity creating human element of the corporate design combines the hotel's main manual duties. His workplace is the bar that makes him more a buddy than the guy to whom the guest has to pay the bill. An appropriate concierge would fulfil a critical position between the local community and the guest. That makes a specific knowledge of the KIEZ necessary. A complementary personality to the materialistic design would not be a negative issue at all. I should be a personality strong by character.

Food! – "find a cook and focus on Wednesday evenings"

The cooking group was a particular group. The restaurant already an ongoing event on Wednesday. And before the "Zwischenkolloquium" four dinners took place at the UdN. The main point for the group would have been to make it happen. By inviting a Wilhelmsburger cook, having a musician from the neighbourhood, having a guest from the neighbourhood. The restaurant was a perfect setting to experiment with different hosting ways in a one to one scale in preparation of the hotel. The more new participant was involved during the restaurant, the more experience and knowledge the group gained (e.g. a professional cook advised the group to have a specific soap for cleaning hands before the food preparation, and also told us to be careful with hygienic issues).

The four dinners were a sort of live practice/research. While doing the restaurant, the students were asked to document what they were doing to have specific documentation, that they could later use.
One thinking for the "Zwischenkolloquium" was to focus on data and build a contact list that would help later on for the hotel project. And the process of this group was quite different from the rest since the other groups focused on organizing rather than a "Food "theme. All that matters was the neighbourhood search for a local chef, local musician, local guest, local shops and ingredient that would participate in the restaurant. To get in contact with neighbours (restaurant and actual neighbours), finding a solution in emergency case (for example no answers of a potential chef), preparing the night. In simple few words, make it happen.

Hacer Sütçü

During one of our lunch breaks on a project day, I went to Kebapchi, a small Turkish joint run by Hacer. Without even thinking about it, I initially started talking in Turkish to the people behind the counter. It felt like home. I told them about my way from Turkey to Wilhelmsburg. We all were quite happy about getting to know each other. I was especially into 'mom's food'. Slightly after this first encounter, the idea to bring local businesses as hosts to the hotel dinners I remembered Hacer and her great comfort food. She immediately said "yes". Cooking together was quite a journey. We went shopping together, prepared and cooked all on our own and by doing that we became even closer and often talked about the Turkish food culture. Our connection got deeper every time. Every time she cooked for us, we just got a little bit closer, maybe to a point where we'd talk about being family. We spoke to each other on the phone about how our days have been, they started calling me' son' and I called the guys behind the counter' big brother'.

Hacer Sütçü, 41 years old, Turkish Cook lives in Wilhelmsburg. She is born and raised in Turkey and came to Germany when she was 19 and lived her ever since. She has five children. She started cooking at age 14, but until today sees it as her favourite hobby here. Beyond standing in the kitchen, she also grows her vegetables. Before the shop at Veringstraße Hacer was working for wedding ceremonies, Vereinstreffen or similar events. It was because of her kids she decided to settle down at Veringstraße, "One day I decided to open a Turkish Imbiss to serve more traditional food like Gözleme, İçli Köfte and traditional Turkish Breakfast, etc. I was expecting from my husband to support me. After he said that you could not handle this work, it became a claim, and I had to run this Imbiss". Today, the business is still run by the entire family. They serve more than 20 types of Turkish comfort food made with traditional methods. Her workday lasts from 8 am to 6 pm, nonstop preparing, storing, cooking and serving. Her Specialities are Anatolian Curry Food. But, she explains that people expect to have all kinds of Turkish foods when you have a Turkish Imbiss. She also confesses that she learned to cook sauces from germans and the other nationalities in Wilhelmsburg. When learning now methods or dishes, she always wants to know how to walk before she runs. She also participates at the "Haus der Jugend" to understand/tell other nationalities in Wilhelmsburg. She thinks there is much more tolerance in Wilhelmsburg, even kinder, than other parts of Germany because she believes that people try to understand the cultures they are not familiar with. She expresses that she is happy to be a part of the project and is always ready to help us.