FUNKFAHRRAD – Sendezentrale

FUNKFAHRRAD – Sendezentrale is an activatable sculpture that combines an electric cargo bike with a mobile recording studio. Part of an ongoing practice developing mobile devices for participatory listening and civic storytelling in public space. It enables flexible encounter formats in public space and responds to the challenge of producing media outside fixed and costly infrastructures.
As a mobile cultural vehicle, it allows podcasts to be recorded or broadcast directly from the street, hosts discussions in public settings, and supports formats such as karaoke sessions or guerrilla-style film screenings. Equipped with a multimedia module, sound and video can be streamed live. Four microphones enable focused conversations, while two speakers allow events with an audience.
The project explores new modes of cultural production and mediation in urban space. Especially in the context of the pandemic, debates around the use and activation of public space gained urgency. The FUNKFAHRRAD contributes to this discourse by generating flexible, accessible, and multi-voiced dialogue close to local contexts.
A core idea of the project is to lend the device to other actors, enabling diverse applications such as the Hamburg KLIMASTRÖME festival, where children produced and live-broadcast a radio play about the river Elbe.
The FUNKFAHRRAD Sendezentrale was transferred to the Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte in 2025 and is now an integral part of their project “Mein Hamburg”, focusing on historically unheard and underrepresented stories from people living in Hamburg. The system functions as a low-threshold tool for media production, enabling inclusive forms of digital participation through its playful and accessible design.