Archimedean Workshop 2025: Three Creative Weeks of Play, Urban Space, and Carbon Concrete

The Archimedean Workshop has successfully concluded – leaving lasting impressions both in the urban landscape and in the minds of all participants.

For three weeks, children, teenagers, university students, and researchers worked together to explore how public spaces for play and leisure can be reimagined and redesigned. What emerged were creative, material-rich experiments – full of curiosity, teamwork, and above all: concrete!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved and all supporters:

• The children of the Archimedean Workshop and the dedicated support team: Berthold Westhoff, Aylin Can, Leonhard Leyens, Jule Schneider, Katharina Fünfstück, Noah, Nico and Leon Schneider, Yannick Hartmann, and Björn Schötten with his urban explorers from KGS Hanbruch.
• The team from IMB (RWTH Aachen), who provided fascinating insights through workshops, lab tours, and site visits: Mike Güldenberg, Felix Menzel, Jochen Wessel, Thomas Hansen, Pascal Wirtz, and David Schlömer.
• Artist Martin Kleppe, who introduced children and students to working with carbon concrete and textile fibers.
• The ITA of RWTH Aachen, which contributed with a lab tour and the donation of textile reinforcements – with special thanks to Linda Debora Cortes Satizabal and Kira Heins.
• The students of the FH Aachen – Department of Design, who, together with Professors Sönke Hoof and Manfred Wagner, boldly explored carbon concrete as part of their semester project in Spatial Design.

We also extend our sincere thanks to our partners and sponsors:

• German Research Foundation (DFG) – funding body of SFB/TRR280
• Deubner Construction Equipment
• HIT Consumer Market
• Design & Exhibition Construction Njeguan
• Association for Work, Environment and Culture in the Aachen Region
• Holz Scherf

Last but not least, a big thank you to the behind-the-scenes enablers who have been coordinating, organizing, and bringing everything together since the beginning of the year:
Elena Reinders, Dr. Jutta Göricke, Renate Prömpler (City of Aachen), Birgit Frank (Bleiberger Fabrik), and Angela Alvarez (IMB / SFB TRR280).