‘Bar Bar Bar’ is a good example of how powerful collaborations can be. It was commissioned by the Uferstudios for contemporary dance and the collective ‘Neue Häute’ in Berlin for the design of a café workspace. Partially because the ambitions of the project were high and the budget very low, we found ourselves in an all-or-nothing scenario and set up the project as a residency, living and working on-site. The project resulted in an interior design composed of a series of over 50 custom pieces produced in wood and spray-on synthetic plaster, including a bar, stools, tables, lights and more. By choosing a uniform surface finish in synthetic plaster the objects were able to vary in shape, scale, composition and assembly techniques, without losing the overall identity. This also made it possible to learn along the way and to invite other designers into the process. The neighbouring workshops of BBK (Berufsverband Bildender Künstler*innen) gave us access to the required tooling (woodwork and metalwork) as well as a thriving community of makers. Only with the help of strangers like Andy, a fellow maker we met at the BBK, and other enthusiastic colleagues with lay-overs in the city were we able to achieve what became a high-stakes and high-quality design project – along with many dinners, dance parties and lasting professional friendships.