The BACK:LAB understands urban development to be a process of open negotiation in which creative approaches to research open up new perspectives on handling interstitial spaces in urban areas. “We see the Marthashof as a test bed for collective urban design,” explains Assistant Professor Miriam Hamel from Alanus University. “Working together with locals, we want to trial ways of re-envisioning inner-city design.”
Professor Eva Nöthen from the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn adds: “Creative urban research enables us to question commonplace perspectives and forge new links between people and places. This generates new ideas for an urban living that’s more closely interconnected and embraces the spirit of solidarity.” The project is geared toward finding ways of making urban development climate-friendly and socially inclusive.
The BACK:LAB is being set up in a rented room in the Marthashof between September and December 2025. The room provides a space for researching, designing and discussing—a meeting place, in other words, for students, residents, shopkeepers and anyone else interested in actively helping to shape the Marthashof.
Going forward, the hope is for the project to become a permanent “city lab” in order to support development over the long term. However, this will require more supporters and co-designers to come on board!
The project is a partnership between the Department of Architecture at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences and the Department of Geography at the University of Bonn. It is being funded via the City of Bonn’s community chest fund for inner-city management, with funds provided by the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building, by the Urban Development Support program of the German federal government, federal states and municipalities, and by the Ministry of Regional Identity, Local Government, Building and Digitalization of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Anyone who is interested is warmly invited to attend two public events in autumn and winter 2025:
TEE | ZEIT
4 pm to 6 pm every Monday in November and December 2025
Venue: BACK:LAB, Am Marthashof / Sandkaule 13b, Bonn
A weekly event for everyone who is curious and keen to have their say and get involved. Over a cup of tea, students invite locals and anyone else who might be interested to discuss urban development, participation and visions of the future.
WERK | SCHAU
4 pm on Monday, December 15, 2025
Venue: BACK:LAB, Am Marthashof / Sandkaule 13b, Bonn
To coincide with the end of the winter semester, BACK:LAB will be opening its doors to interested members of the public, showcasing a number of creative research interventions, project results and visions for the Marthashof.
Project managers:
Assistant Professor Miriam Hamel, Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences—Process Architecture
Professor Eva Nöthen, University of Bonn—Didactics of Geography
Press contacts:
Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences
Senta Koske, Press Officer
Phone: +49 2222 9321-1944
Email: senta.koske@alanus.edu
