Bootlabor
Workshop | 2018, 2025
Bootlabor, which is German for boat laboratory, was a workshop for making experimental water vehicles. Niklas and I gave the workshop in late summer 2018 in Lörrach as a part of Junior Lab's summer edition at Werkraum Schöpflin. The weather in southern Germany was hot and we thought that a water related activity could be refreshing. So we filled a huge inflatable pool and chose a very open approach to building small boats. No instructions, just lots of different materials, some examples and help. The video above is from this workshop. In 2025 we had the chance to make a new version of Bootlabor at the Periphera, which is an art and technology festival in Trafaria, Portugal. The workshop connected to Trafaria's local history of fishing culture and boats.
Junior Lab in Lörrach
The Bootlabor in Lörrach was part of Junior Lab, a program which used to offer workshops that focused on using technology creatively. Most of the participants in the Bootlabor workshops were in elementary school age. First we discussed different boat types and made experiments with play-dough to see which shapes float and why. We also had a DIY hardware store and everyone received a budget of blue, red and yellow cardboard coins to buy items. This was done to ensure that we had enough materials for the whole workshop week and also to stimulate creative solutions. In the most precious blue category were DC motors, 3D-printed propellers and plastic skulls. The more affordable items included board materials, popsicle sticks, rods, hose, rubber bands and chewing gum for fixing leakages. We also had a common recycling center, where leftovers could be donated for free use.
Since one person's budget was limited, some participants teamed up to make up a fancy motorised boat. However, some were totally happy with a simple vehicle that worked without a motor. Others focused on quantity and made as many different boats as they could, including some submarines. Some were spenders and used all the coins at once, buying also quite a bit of chewing gum, while others held on to their cardboard coins, unwilling to spend much. Two participants took financing to another level and made together a gambling machine with their leftover materials to earn more coins. Lots of inventive ways to deal with the coins and boat-building emerged and it was interesting to discuss these in the end of the workshop.
Workshop at Periphera
In Trafaria we gave two workshops, which were offered for people of all ages. This time many adults joined, but the workshop atmosphere was like in Lörrach, full of sparkling enthusiasm to get the boats running (without sinking). We had again a hardware store, but also plenty of cool materials that the participants bought with them. In this workshop it was really nice to get to know local makers, educators and artists visiting the festival. Had we stayed longer, we could have learned a lot about actual boat building in the wonderful coastal towns.
See also:
Thank you!
Special thanks to Lars, Meike, Junior Lab and Werkraum Schöpflin for inviting us to give the workshop. We also greatly appreciate our young helpers from Werkraum Schöpflin, who assisted the workshop participants in a caring way. For the workshop in Trafaria, we want to thank the super friendly organisers of Periphera, Carlos and Francisco, who helped us and made us feel welcome.