Presentation of the Manifesta 16 Ruhr Urban Vision

Yesterday, on the 9th of July 2025, the Manifesta 16 Ruhr Urban Vision was presented at St. Josef’s Church in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf to residents of the Ruhr Area. The event featured presentations by Manifesta Director Hedwig Fijen and First Creative Mediator Professor Josep Bohigas. TU Dortmund Professor Renée Tribble shared the outcomes of her university course This is not a Church, a project where students developed sketches for urban interventions in the Ruhr Area’s abandoned church buildings and their surrounding neighbourhoods.

After presenting this edition’s Conceptual Framework and the initial findings of the Urban Vision at a Manifesta 16 Ruhr press conference in April 2025, this event offered an opportunity to take a deeper look at This is not a Church, the urban research for this edition. It was especially inspiring to explore new possibilities for former spaces of worship together with students, former Citizen Consultation participants, regional stakeholders and people from the neighbouring community.

Over the past months, Professor Renée Tribble facilitated the course “This is not a Church” for students of TU Dortmund. Following a successful workshop in March 2025 co-hosted with Lisa Marie Zander (Projektbüro Hamburg), Sebastian Schlecht (lala.ruhr) and Josep Bohigas, Tribble expanded the research project into a specially developed university course. As the final session, the students presented their projects to Josep Bohigas.

The presentation of the Urban Vision marked the first event held in the church next to Manifesta 16 Ruhr’s new offices in Gelsenkirchen. Keep an eye on our online channels or subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on future pre-biennial happenings.

A heartfelt thank you to all the students who shared their creative ideas and to everyone who joined this special event.