Opening Piazza Spinelli
curated by Sally Below and Christopher Dell, Piazza Spinelli was a performative installation and exhibition project dedicated to initiating and exploring urban coexistence, space sharing and knowledge exchange. Located at the intersection of 1:1 processes and planning administration, the project was realized in cooperation with Jens Weisener of the Projektgruppe Konversion, Stadtplanungsamt Mannheim.
Taking place in the framework of Spinelli Freiraum Lab, the project was also presented as a contribution to the International Building Exhibition, Heidelberg. During the presentation period from 19. April until 9 of July 2022 we realized a variety of communal formats, everyday practices such as cooking, gathering, playing sports, drinking coffee, making music, baking or building are combined with lectures by international experts in urban development and guided tours at the interface between the existing and the new neighbourhood.
On 29. April to 1. May we opened the Piazza Spinelli with a building workshop and a collective drawing session. Axel Timm and Maria Garcia of raumlaborberlin interacted with local neighbors from the Mannheim-Käfertal quarter. After the opening, the process unfolded and came to a closing with a collaboration with the Kunsthalle Mannheim on the weekend of 15./16. October 2022.
In an experimental process, the Spinelli FreiRaumLab network is working on making existing spaces and green areas between the Mannheim-Käfertal district and the new Spinelli neighborhood usable in a neighborly and flexible way, and on finding new ways of cooperation.
To the discursive program of Piazza Spinelli contributed among others
Ben Pohl of Denkstatt sarl, Basel
Christophe Hutin of Christophe Hutin Architects, Bordeaux
Stefan Rettich, University Kassel
Axel Timm of Raumlabor, Berlin
Vera and Ruedi Baur of Civic City, Paris
René Tribble, Dominique Peck and Marius Töpfer
of Projektbüro, Hamburg
Dr. Karl-Heinz Imhäuser, Montag Stiftung Denkwerkstatt, Kuratorium IBA Heidelberg
Ralf Eisenhauer, Bürgermeister für Bauen, Planung, Verkehr und Sport der Stadt Mannheim
Dirk Grunert, Bürgermeister für Bildung, Jugend und Gesundheit der Stadt Mannheim
Sebastian Klawiter, Stadtgestalter & Mitinitiator Stadtlücken e.V. Stuttgart
webpage of the project Piazza Spinelli/ Spinelli Freiraum Lab
pics Christopher Dell