event
Autumn Academy CITY / CARE / COMMONS – 100 Years The New Frankfurt: Accompanying Programme
6. October – 11. October
Autumn Academy CITY / CARE / COMMONS – 100 Years The New Frankfurt: Accompanying Programme
The inspiration and framework for the Autumn Academy is The New Frankfurt, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2025. Democratic aspirations and social commitment lead to a vision for a new urban life. During the Autumn Academy, we will critically examine and reflect on its planning and designing. From there we want to productively discuss current challenges and think ahead in urban and housing policy.
City, care, and commons: The Autumn Academy brings together various disciplines, perspectives, and actors from academia, urban policy, administration, as well as civil society. Its function is building bridges between the past and the future to discuss how coexistence and community in cities can succeed even in the face of multiple crises.
Seminars led by mentors take place in the mornings. In the afternoons, excursions, exhibition visits, and workshops bring the groups together to exchange and discuss ideas with the exhibitors and partners of the Autumn Academy. The evenings are dedicated to public discourse and cultural events.
To the seminars of the Autumn Academy
Participation in the Autumn Academy is only possible with advance registration. The application period has already closed. Interested parties are cordially invited to attend the open evening events:
URBANE REPRODUKTION. INFRASTRUKTUREN DES SORGETRAGENS
ALLE TAGE WOHNUNGSFRAGE. EINE SOZIALE UND ÖKOLOGISCHE BETRACHTUNG
The supporting programme
Monday, October 6, 2025 // THE NEW FRANKFURT
9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Yes, we care The New Frankfurt and the Pursuit of the Common Good
Location: Museum Angewandte Kunst
The exhibition Yes, we care. The New Frankfurt and the Pursuit of the Common Good is dedicated to the topic of care for the common good and welfare – its institutions and associations, its people, concepts and initiatives during the 1920s. At the same time, it draws a connection to today’s care crisis, which is not only evident in the debate about the unequal distribution of care work between men and women, but also in access to affordable housing and the provision of care services in urban districts.
https://www.museumangewandtekunst.de
Exhibition tour with
GRIT WEBER (curator, deputy director of the Museum Angewandte Kunst)
GABU HEINDL (architect, professor of construction management and project development | ARCHITEKTUR STADT ÖKONOMIE, Universität Kassel)
VALENTINA KNEŽEVIĆ (art educator, Museum Angewandte Kunst)
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
NEW DWELLING IN RÖMERSTADT
Tour of the housing estate with the ernst-may-gesellschaft
Starting point: Forum Neues Frankfurt
The tour focuses on Ernst May, his role in Frankfurt’s urban development, and the housing shortage during the Weimar Republic. In the mayhaus, the model house of The New Frankfurt, the interior design, the Frankfurt Kitchen, and the garden of the house are presented. The tour will take place in the Römerstadt housing estate, focusing on the layout, green spaces, integration into the Nidda-Tal, design, style, and typification. We will also visit the Römerstadt II allotment garden, including the standardized garden arbour designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky.
5 p.m. – 9 p.m.
OUTLOOK: CITY CARE COMMONS
Open exchange with the ernst-may-gesellschaft
Location: Forum Neues Frankfurt
The Forum in the Römerstadt is open to the public for all questions relating to Neues Frankfurt. In a relaxed atmosphere, we would like to discuss current issues over drinks and a buffet: How did The New Frankfurt lay the foundations for current urban lifestyles? Which basic assumptions can be critically questioned from today’s perspective? What are the possible solutions to current housing and land policy issues?
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 // URBAN CARE
3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
CARE WALK
Starting point: Studio 27
How can we examine the urban conditions of care? How can we perceive spaces, facilities, and infrastructures from the perspective of care? How can we better understand what it takes to provide good care for these spaces, environments, and infrastructures? How can human and more-than-human care needs be met? Drawing on quotations from the works of feminist and queer-feminist care theorists, as well as on scores prepared by Elke Krasny, the group will jointly compose the route of the Care Walk to comprehend how urban conditions of care can be better recognized and understood.
Interactive city walk with
ELKE KRASNY (curator, cultural theorist, professor of art and education, Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien)
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
URBAN REPRODUCTION. INFRASTRUCTURES OF CARE
Location: Deutsches Architekturmuseum
The panel discussion will be in German only
As urban infrastructures, cities are spaces of care, negotiation, and community. The keyword “care” refers to the question of how care work, design, and participation can come together in urban spaces. The discussion will focus on queer-feminist perspectives on cities and housing, artistic approaches, methods of social design, and the role of administration and green space planning in the context of climate adaptation. How can care, ecological responsibility, and social justice be thought of together to make cities places of solidarity and participation?
A collaboration with the National Urban Development Policy (NSP)
Short lecture
ELEONORA HERDER (artistic director, partnersincrime)
A panel discussion with
DORO HALBROCK (process designer / UVM | Hallo: e.V.)
CAROLIN GENZ (urban and housing researcher, post-doc fellow DFG graduate college “Gewohnter Wandel” (Habitual Change), Goethe Universität Frankfurt)
ELKE KRASNY (curator, cultural theorist, professor of art and education Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien)
DIRK SCHNEIDER (landscape architect, head of planning and construction at Grünflächenamt, Frankfurt am Main)
ANNE KESSLER (head of the department of fundamental issues of Urban Development Policy, Building Culture, Research, and Coordination at the Federal Ministry of Building)
Moderator
TABEA LATOCHA (urban and housing researcher, postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for European Urban Studies at the Bauhaus Universität Weimar)
Wednesday, October 8, 2025 // HOUSING ISSUES
2:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
PRIVATIZATION, RENOVATION, AND PROTEST
Location: Historisches Museum Frankfurt
What would a “really good” housing cooperative for a city based on solidarity look like? In this workshop, we will work together to develop ideas for a socio-ecological transformation in housing and construction policy—inspired by the exhibition “Everyday housing issues. On privatisation, refurbishment and protest” In thematic working groups, we will develop claims at the intersection of housing, care, and the common good. On this basis we will design flyers that convincingly present our visions and strategies for an economically, ecologically, and socially just city.
A workshop with
TABEA LATOCHA (urban and housing researcher, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for European Urban Studies at the Bauhaus Universität Weimar)
JOHANNA BETZ (urban and housing researcher, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Human Geography at Goethe Universität Frankfurt)
KATHARINA BÖTTGER (freelance curator, Alle Tage Wohnungsfrage. Vom Privatisieren, Sanieren und Protestieren at the Historisches Museum Frankfurt)
ANGELINA SCHAEFER (freelance curator, Alle Tage Wohnungsfrage. Vom Privatisieren, Sanieren und Protestieren at the Historisches Museum Frankfurt)
Accompanied by
Riso Paradiso Offm (Sandrine Jalquin, Maria Lenz, Hannah Rödel, Alicia Terry)
7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
EVERYDAY HOUSING. A SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Historisches Museum Frankfurt
The panel discussion will be in German only
Ever since Fridays for Future took climate protests to the streets, the urgency of ecological issues in urban development has intensified. Upcoming building renovations are accompanied by discussions about sustainability as well as fears of rising rents and displacement. How can the transformation to an ecological and social city succeed? The housing issue is now both social and ecological and cannot be viewed separately.
A panel discussion with
FLORIAN JANIK(Eine Stadt für Alle! Frankfurt, research assistant at the Institute for Human Geography at Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Carl-von-Weinberg-Siedlung tenants’ initiative)
TINA ZAPF-RODRIGUEZ (city councillor, Head of the Department for climate, environment, and women)
GABU HEINDL (architect, professor of construction management and project development | ARCHITEKTUR STADT ÖKONOMIE, Universität Kassel)
MARCUS GWECHENBERGER (city councillor, Head of the Department of Planning and Housing)
Moderator
PAOLA ALFARO D’ALENÇON (Professor of Urban Design and Design in International Context, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences)
Thursday, October 9, 2025 // COOPERATIVE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
3 p.m. – 6 p.m.
PLAN.SPIEL.STADT
Location: Deutsches Architekturmuseum
Players take on different roles—from investors to city administrators to environmentalists—and work together to shape the future of a city. But every decision has consequences: Which construction projects will be implemented? Where will negotiations be necessary? How can conflicts be resolved? The goal is to create a functioning city in which no one is left behind. In the process, players experience firsthand how conflicts of interest, compromises, and strategic considerations shape the cityscape.
https://dam-online.de/produkt/plan-spiel-stadt-verhandle-klug-baue-weise/
Short lecture by
LAURENZ BLASER (urban designer / Wir gegen den Markt | Kollektiv Raumstation)
Game supervision
ANDREA JÜRGES (deputy director of Deutsches Architekturmuseum)
RUTH SCHLÖGL (architecture educator, research and public relations officer at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences)
Friday, October 10, 2025 // CULTURE IN URBAN SPACE
3 p.m. – 6 p.m.
VACANCY AND THE CREATION OF SELF-ORGANIZED CULTURAL SPACES
Location: Kulturcampus
The Kulturcampus is an area with a turbulent history and diverse potential, and a place for people to meet. Topics such as vacancy, occupation, conversion, urban policy, and community can be explored here. How can cultural activation and joint design of urban spaces be achieved? Initiatives provide insights into their work for critical discussion.
Workshops with
VISION31
OFFENES HAUS DER KULTUREN
DIE DRUCKEREI FÜR ALLE!
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
CULTURE SPACE CITY. OPEN AREAS AS COMMON SPACES OF OPPORTUNITY – FROM NEUES FRANKFURT TO KULTURCAMPUS?
Locaction: To be announced
The panel discussion will be in German only
The panel talk will focus on the challenges of cultural and urban development with reference to the Kulturcampus. The discussion will take up historical impulses from Neues Frankfurt and take a comparative look at the “Friche La Belle de Mai” in Marseille, a place of artistic and social practice created through conversion. Together with experts from the fields of culture, urban planning, and science, we want to discuss which strategies, alliances, and concepts are necessary to create open, inclusive, and diverse cultural venues of the future that are more than just functional buildings, but rather open up spaces of possibility for encounter and joint creation.
A cooperation with the Department of Culture of Frankfurt am Main
Short lecture by
MIRIAM MEURERS (theater producer, Compagnie Babelabab)
Panel
HELEN BARR (art historian, Institute of Art History, Goethe Universität Frankfurt)
JULIUS REINSBERG (historian and advisor to the Department of Culture of the City of Frankfurt)
PHILIPP SCHULTE (chairman of Frankfurt LAB and managing director of Hessische Theaterakademie)
RENÉE TRIBBLE (professor of urban planning, urban development planning, and urban design processes, TU Dortmund)
Moderator
ANDREA JÜRGES (deputy director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum)
Saturday, October 11, 2025 // CITY CARE COMMONS – PERSPECTIVES
2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
GET TOGETHER IN GALLUS
Linger & stroll around the Gusti Kulturkiosk
If the weather is good, we will stroll through the Hellerhofsiedlung, linger at the Gusti Kulturkiosk, and get in touch with the Gallus district.
4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
CITY CARE COMMONS – REFLECTIONS
Gusti Kulturkiosk / Güneş Theater
What ideas from the anniversary of the Neue Frankfurt and the Autumn Academy can we take with us for a city that takes care and the common good in focus?
8 p.m.
PIXEL KITCHEN – URBAN REVUE
Closing event at the Güneş Theater
Experimental cabaret meets culinary delights for collective enjoyment. A “Frankfurt banquet” as the festive conclusion to the Autumn Academy in the heart of Gallus: performance art, live music, and creative exchange of ideas. Followed by the closing party.
With
OHRBABY & JUNKI (guitar duo); EMIRISIAN & VERON EMIRZE (songwriters); AGRA ALBAK (live digital painting performance); DIJULIANI(Circus Zarakali); CHEVALIER (jazz); DJ MONSIEUR SCHNÜRSCHUH; DJ U-LASH
