Project

“Hüttenspiel” is an interactive installation as part of the School, Neighbourhood and Us Programme of Manifesta 16 Ruhr. It was developed in collaboration with the primary school Kurt Schumacher Straße and the Faculty of Spatial Planning and Urban Development Processes at TU Dortmund. It was co-created and first activated during a shared workshop with school children and students in May 2026 and then became part of the exhibition at St. Anna – Hatay Engin Music Hall for the duration of Manifesta 16 Ruhr. 

Together with local schoolchildren the project questions the urban environment surrounding their school building, which is mostly created by and for adults. Based on the idea of the playful building of huts in the woods, the installation consists of branches found in the nearby forest and textiles designed together with the children. Using a simple technique, the materials can be collectively assembled into structures that invite play, rest and small events. The process is a hands-on “school of collaboration”: improvisational, imaginative and inclusive, teaching how shared spaces emerge from many hands.

“Hüttenspiel” transforms the church interior into a temporary fantasy world for children. All elements of the installation tell their very own stories. Through collaborative building and playing, these stories can be brought to life, and new ones can emerge. Reflecting on the traditional “nativity Play” (German: „Krippenspiel“) the church interior is opened up to new narratives and connected to the young neighborhood. 

In textile collages and drawings created with the local school children, they tell stories about their life in the neighborhood and beyond, sharing their perception of the world.

The installation is activated every Wednesday afternoon during Manifesta 16 Ruhr in different locations throughout the neighborhood – new stories that originate during these activations are collected in a logbook.

credits and team

concept: Alexander Römer, Patrick Hubmann (Constructlab)
production constructlab: Alexander Römer, Patrick Hubmann, Emil Widmer, Ana Brandão & Corinne Riepert
production manifesta: Kim Lempelius & Jana Nestler
graphic development: Grit Koalick, Emil Widmer & Peter Zuiderwijk
in collaboration with: students of Känguru class and Koala class with the teachers Gabi Gärtner and Julia Söbbe from Kurt Schumacher Straße primary school, Gelsenkirchen; Renée Tribble, Jan Dröge-Rothaar & students from RG Urbandesignunit, TU Dortmund
weekly activation: Birthe Langner and team of mediators Manifesta 16 Ruhr