NEB Festival Virtual Lunchtalk: FROM VOID TO COMMONS!
FROM VOID TO COMMONS
Virtual Lunchtalk at the New European Bauhaus Festival 2026
Recap our Virtual Lunchtalk as part of the New European Bauhaus Festival 2026 with experts from MANIFESTA16 RUHR, TU-Dortmund University, Zollverein Foundation and Rutgers University.
Drawing on the Ruhr metropolis’ tradition of emerging from the void, in this talk we step from the post-industrial heritage into the dynamic neighborhoods, where the need for change remains. We discuss opportunities ans perspectives for the future with an expanded focus on the role of former churches as catalysts for change within the local communities. (The event was recorded on 12th June 2026)
SPEAKERS:
- Hedwig Fijen, Director of MANIFESTA Foundation (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Carla Zimmermann, Stiftung Zollverein (Essen, Germany)
- Josep Bohigas, Creative Mediator at MANIFESTA16 RUHR (Barcelona, Spain)
- Prof. Renee Tribble, TU Dortmund University (Dortmund, Germany)
- Prof. Wolfram Hoefer, Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA)
- Moderation by Sebastian Schlecht, lala.ruhr (Ruhrgebiet, Germany)
The lunch talk will explore two distinct aspects of the region which, despite their differences, share a key commonality: both point to spaces of void, which, whilst clearly a shortcoming, can also be seen as a call for revitalisation, reinterpretation and (re-)active use.
A recent catalyst for this discussion is the contribution by Josep Bohigas, who will be presenting his urban vision for Manifesta 16 Ruhr. As an external observer, he has engaged intensively with the former coal and steel region over the past few years. His perspective offers a refreshing view of the Ruhr region, its neighbourhoods and its future development potential. A key insight herein is that transformation becomes particularly urgent where social needs, functional requirements and specific local necessities converge.
The void left by the former industrial sector in the Ruhr region was not merely the disappearance of traditional forms of production. Rather, it left behind a complex legacy of structural challenges, large-scale environmental pressures and social uncertainty. At the same time, these upheavals gave rise to new opportunities for action, specific here the UNESCO World Heritage Zollverein, which continue to shape the Ruhr region to this day as a laboratory of change.
In this event, we link the issue of the ‘underground’ void of industrial leftovers to another challenge of transformation: dealing with a wide range of obsolete churches, particularly parish and church buildings. Changes in religious practice mean that existing buildings are losing their original function, making it necessary to develop new concepts for their use and new ways of interpreting their significance.
These processes are characterised by complex feelings of farewell, uncertainty, hope and reorientation. At the same time, they make it clear that spaces for community are still needed – even where community is no longer organised primarily along religious lines.
Against this backdrop, this contribution discusses how empty spaces can be interpreted fruitfully and transformed into sustainable forms of community, and how neighbourhoods can develop in line with their needs when old structures are dismantled and new ones emerge only gradually and, in most cases, through innovative processes.
In tension between industrial sites that have now been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, regional history, the pressing need for action, and the needs of local neighbourhoods and their communities, this discussion explores how the region can continue to develop in the future – and how existing vacant spaces can be transformed into opportunities and new social, spatial and cultural potential.
Futher links:
Join our Virtual Lunchtalk within the The Festival of the New European Bauhaus 2026!
(Un)Learning for possible futures - FAV24 podcast #3!
(Un)Learning for possible futures - FAV24 podcast #3!
As part of our contribution to the Favoriten Festival 2024, we created this podcast in which Sebastian Schlecht talks with Yacouba Coulibaly and Josefine Rose Habermehl about (un)learning and social justice. The podcast series “Theater&Crisis – Exercises in Living Together” was hosted and curated by Margo Zālīte as part of the artistic direction of the FAVORITEN Festival 2024: (Un)Learning for Possible Futures.
In this conversation, we explore questions such as: How can theater be used as a platform to shed light on social injustices and give space to marginalized voices? What spaces for dialogue are needed, and which ones already exist? This episode examines how theater not only tells stories but can also actively contribute to change by opening up new perspectives and highlighting opportunities for social change.
But why not listen for yourself: LINK
In episode #3 we are talking about social equality!
Green Infrastructure Offensive: Handing over the recommendations for action to the RVR
green infrastructure offensive:
handover of
recommendations for action
to the RVR
The time has come: The team of lala.ruhr, commissioned by and in cooperation with the Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR), has developed a strategic-conceptual contribution as a building block for the communication offensive Green Infrastructure of the RVR in a process lasting several months. This has now been handed over to Nina Frense (Councillor for the Environment and Green Infrastructure). In essence, the aim was to develop proposals and to win over actors from different areas for cooperation.
The results of the “Festival of Landscape”, which reached over 200 participants in digital space in February, as well as interviews with innovative landscape and urban designers, people involved in non-institutional planning contexts and artistic perspectives were incorporated. Hints and approaches for goal-oriented communication and the involvement of actors in the design of green infrastructure in the Metropole Ruhr were compiled and described in the present recommendations for action, which can serve as a basis for the regional joint project of designing and communicating a sustainable urban landscape.
lala.ruhr would like to thank all those who contributed their expertise – whether as interviewees or participants in the Festival of Landscape or participants of the digital festival formats!
Handover of the recommendations for action to Nina Frense (Deputy for the Environment and Green Infrastructure of the Ruhr Regional Association, RVR, centre) by the lala.ruhr initiators Sebastian Schlecht (left) and Melanie Kemner (right). Photo: RVR/Volker Wiciok
Podcast tip: the one minute city and the Internet of nature!
Podcast tip:
the one minute city
and the
internet of nature!
At the lala.ruhr festival in February this year, there was a very special live session that was recorded and has now been released as an English-language podcast: The one minute city and the internet of nature! It is an episode of the Urban Landscape Lab podcast with Tommaso Bassetti, expert in urban and climate policy, which provides a platform for discussing experiences, innovative ideas and projects at the intersection of urban quality of life, green performance and quality.
As a result of the pandemic, we have had and continue to have less or no access to offices, bars, restaurants, museums and open spaces. Never before has urban quality of life been so dependent on the spaces that lie outside our doors. Together with Dr. Nadina Galle, ecological engineer and pioneer of the concept “Internet of Nature”, and Andrea Balestrini, director of LAND Research Lab, we explored during the festival how ordinary urban streets can be redesigned to benefit their inhabitants even after the pandemic, while increasing resilience to an accelerating climate crisis through green performance.
If you missed the session during our festival, you can now listen in here:
#thinklandscape
lala.ruhr - the film: On the road with the actors in the region!
lala.ruhr - the film:
On the road with the actors
in our region!
In order to shape the green city of the future, many perspectives are needed – lala.ruhr has set itself the task of collecting these, promoting exchange and discussing visions and concepts for the future of the Metropole Ruhr. After the participatory festival of the landscape of the Metropole Ruhr, which took place in digital space in February, we have been on the road in Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Oberhausen in recent weeks to visit innovative projects and capture exciting voices and faces.
With the support of the Regionalverband Ruhr and three protagonists, the result is a 12-minute film from a variety of perspectives. What is the job of landscape architects? Have you ever heard of organism democracy? And what happens on the roof of the Oberhausen Job Centre? You can find the answers in the film! We are looking forward to your feedback!
#thinklandscape!
In order to shape the green city of the future, many perspectives are needed – three of them are captured in our new film.