The Spinelli FreiRaumLab is developing a new social and green centre at the interface between the old-settled district of Käfertal and the new Spinelli neighbourhood in an experimental process under the technical and conceptual guidance of Sally Below.
How does one go about this when the Catholic and Protestant churches involved may be abandoned by their regional churches, there are conflicts of use on the green spaces and institutional barriers, and at the same time not only the sports club and the neighbourhood need spaces that can be used flexibly? By sharing spaces, knowledge and resources, the network wants to overcome hurdles and constructively show that this urban situation has a future that lies in cooperation.
The Piazza Spinelli – a performative installation and exhibition project – is both an interface between different built structures and green spaces and an activating plug-in structure that mediates between local actors and the international urban planning discourse.
At the Spinelli FreiRaumLab, design and research come together. In addition to solving concrete problems, the aim is to create a new cooperative methodology across disciplines and institutions for dealing constructively with existing urban situations as a prototype for future urban development.
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Construction within the framework of the National Urban Development Policy since 2023.
in cooperation with the City of Mannheim, Project Group Conversion, Jens Weisener / Curation Piazza Spinelli: Sally Below/Christopher Dell
