This is not a church: Manifesta 16 Ruhr organises student workshops with TU Dortmund

As part of the pre-biennial research process Manifesta 16 Ruhr organised the interdisciplinary workshop This is not a church: future parameters and perimeters of churches in collaboration with the TU Dortmund.

The workshop, facilitated by our First Creative Mediator Josep Bohigas and TU Dortmund Professor Renée Tribble, examined the position of churches within neighbourhoods in the Ruhr Area.

Religious spaces have historically played a vital role in shaping cultural and social life in cities, with churches serving as key landmarks and centres of community identity. Church communities, especially in the past, have done essential social work and cultivated strong ties with neighbourhood residents. In many parts of Europe however, including the Ruhr Area, the importance of churches has significantly declined in recent decades. Many churches have been closed, transformed, dismantled, repurposed – a change that is happening in the centres of neighbourhoods.

This is not a church offered the opportunity to examine the current and historical urban fabric of the Ruhr region. Can these former places of worship be seen as infrastructures that foster social cohesion and contribute to new, sustainable development of neighbourhoods in the Ruhr Area?

During the workshop, students visited selected churches in the area, engaging with neighbours and local communities to understand their specific urban and social fabric of the surrounding environment. They met with local experts to gain insights into the history and conditions of the churches, while systematically mapping their findings. Having assessed the locations’ parameters and identified community needs, they developed conceptual proposals to connect these spaces of worship to their environments in a new way.

A big thank you to all students and collaborators for joining us during these days.

Collaborators:
Josepe Bohigas, Manifesta 16 Ruhr First Creative Mediator
Professor Renée Tribble, StädteBauProzesse and TU Dortmund
Lisa Marie-Zander, Projektbüro Hamburg
Sebastian Schlecht, lala Ruhr