The Freedom Project has now moved to the heart of Stuttgart, in the Hospitalhof area. Up to September, vacant office spaces will be used as "Freedom Workshops," run by students of Merz Academy. On June 12th, the "Atelier Leuschnerplätzle"—named in honor of the district’s democratic heritage—was officially inaugurated. This studio is part of the larger initiative, "Future Freedoms: Reports from the Post-Carbon Society of 2049," supported by the BMBF Science Year program.
The audience was welcomed by Dr. Elke Uhl who gave a short presentation on the project. Then there was a guided tour of the exhibition integrated into the Freedom Workshop. Titled Looking Back, Looking At, Looking Forward, the exhibition features works by Eberhard Schwarz, Aline Riedle, and Lucas Oettinger.
Impulses from the Past, the Present, and the Future
The unique ambiance of the space is further enhanced by its view of Leuschner street, the historic site where the Stuttgart Rump Parliament was suppressed in 1849. In recognition of this culturally significant memory, the exhibition revisits this history, linking the location’s legacy to the broader narrative of German democracy. Eberhard Schwarz, a board member of the Forum Hospitalviertel e.V. association (Vereins Forum Hospitalviertel e.V.), eloquently underscored the relevance of this history to the present.
Furthermore, popular culture magazines and retro-futuristic images were exhibited in order to show the changes and persistence of the social ideas about freedom.
To counter the heated debates of the present, a prototype in the form of a fountain was placed to represent new, experimental approaches in architectural culture. The project, developed by Lucas Oettinger as part of his master's thesis at the University of Stuttgart at the Institute for Spatial Concept and Fundamentals of Design, is a prototype of a tufa spring, from which a building is intended to grow over an extended period. Non-human life forms are also taken into consideration. The potential site chosen is B14 at Charlottenplatz, aiming to provide a post-fossil future perspective for this currently heavily trafficked road.
In the Freedom Workshop, students from the Merz Academy will create speculative documentary films throughout the summer months, with premieres scheduled for four evenings in October at the Hospitalhof. Additionally, there will be informal gathering nights for community members.
