BACK:LAB enters a new phase

BACK:LAB enters a new phase

Artistic urban research expands to Bonn city center from May 2026

BACK:LAB – the Laboratory for Artistic Urban Research, a joint project of Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Alfter (Department of Architecture) and the University of Bonn (Department of Geography), is entering the next round from May 2026. With support from the Foundation for Environment and Development North Rhine-Westphalia, the project will not only continue but also be expanded in content: starting from Marthashof, the focus will now shift to Bonn city center as a whole.

BACK:LAB understands urban development as an open, collaborative process of negotiation. Artistic-research methods open up new perspectives on urban in-between spaces and make it possible to question familiar ways of seeing and to develop new relationships between people and places.

Marthashof stands as an example of many challenges facing urban spaces: high intensity of use, low quality of stay, and competing claims on space. Topics such as everyday encounters, urban greenery, waste, land use, and mobility, which already became visible during the pilot phase, will now be explored in greater depth and placed in a broader urban context. In the long term, BACK:LAB is intended to develop into an open urban laboratory that brings together people from the neighborhood and from across Bonn to actively shape their surroundings. Anyone interested is invited to take part in the project and contribute their own ideas.

From September to December 2025, BACK:LAB was already successfully activated as part of a pilot phase funded by the discretionary fund of the city center management of the Federal City of Bonn. Students from both universities worked together with local residents, business owners, and local initiatives to explore Marthashof – a centrally located yet little-visible urban space shaped by different uses, situated between Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz, Kölnstraße, Langstraße, and Sandkaule. The insights gained there form the basis for the project phase now beginning.

In the summer semester of 2026, students of architecture and geography will once again work together with the urban community to develop and practically test approaches for an ecologically sustainable and socially inclusive city center. Marthashof will remain both the starting point and the laboratory: the project space established on site serves as a meeting place, workshop, and experimental space. From here, other locations in Bonn city center will increasingly come into focus. The aim is to transfer the artistic-research strategies developed in BACK:LAB to different urban contexts and to identify and further develop so-called transformation spaces.

In the coming weeks and months, BACK:LAB will host various public formats that will turn Marthashof into a lively meeting place:

TEA | TIME
Every Tuesday, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., from May to July and in September 2026
Location: BACK:LAB, Am Marthashof / Sandkaule 13b, Bonn
An open space for talking, thinking, and shaping ideas together. Over a cup of tea, visitors can connect and jointly develop ideas for a vibrant city center.

BACK:LAB MEETS
Thursday, 21 May | 18 June | 16 July 2026, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Location: BACK:LAB, Am Marthashof / Sandkaule 13b, Bonn
A discussion series with changing guests from politics, administration, initiatives, civil society, research, and the arts on questions of sustainable urban development. Visitors can get to know different perspectives and discuss the future of Bonn city center together.

WORK | SHOW
Wednesday, 08 July 2026, from 6:00 p.m.
Location: BACK:LAB, Am Marthashof / Sandkaule 13b, Bonn
A public presentation of the students’ artistic-research work. Visitors can discover project results and visions for Marthashof and Bonn city center and discuss them with the students.

Project team:
Jun. Prof. Miriam Hamel, Margrit Miebach, Marco Soendgen, Department of Architecture/Alanus University
Prof. Dr. Eva Nöthen, Johanna Reitz, Department of Geography/University of Bonn

Funding:
Foundation for Environment and Development North Rhine-Westphalia

Instagram: back__lab

Photo: Alanus University / Marco Soendgen

Contact for press inquiries:
+49 (0)2222 9321-1944
presse@alanus.edu