Looking to find a platform where he could realize his visions for alternative living, Dimitri Hegemann started to become active in the Berlin music scene, organizing festivals, opening stores and running clubs. Together with some friends he opened the legendary techno club Tresor in 1988 and in 2007 moved the club to an abandoned power plant in the middle of Berlin. The so called Kraftwerk Berlin is now home for art events of all genres. In 2012 he launched a community organization called Happy Locals, & another called the Academy for Subcultural Understanding. The Happy Locals is a group made up of Berlin-based organizations, which help make alternative projects happen.

Dimitri considers himself a cultural activist & calls himself a "space" pioneer - aiming to turn industrial ruins into cultural spaces. Only restorative art, he says, can save old cities from vanishing into meaninglessness. 

His current project involves renovating industrial spaces in Detroit as part of a group called the Detroit-Berlin Connection. He wants to help the people of Detroit, with alternative, non-traditional projects using assets that already exist in the community: the people who live there & a multitude of still solid, but underused buildings.

Dimitri wants to encourage Detroiters by building a creative hub to help attract projects that combine art, music, technology with improving the quality of life in the city's neighborhoods.

The Happy Locals are always looking to expand their project nationally & internationally. Since 2012, they have shared their experience & knowledge, finding collaborators & partners to plan creative projects for cities that need them. Does your city need an upgrade? Dimitri is your man!