CLUBS of the Future – Collective Spaces in Societies in Transition

Envision a world where physical spaces become catalysts for community, exchange, and cultural transformation—CLUBS der Zukunft invites you into just that. Released in March 2025 by Bierke Verlag and edited by Susanne Prinz and Julia Gwendolyn Schneider under the oversight of Dorothee Albrecht, this 160-page paperback delves into architectural and artistic experiments around shared spaces—particularly cultural houses across Europe and in the former GDR—which have evolved into hotbeds for collaboration, civic life, and alternative economies.

More than a catalogue of spaces, the book orchestrates reflections on “commoning,” reform, and communities in flux. How can we build open, negotiable zones—spaces that straddle identities, materials, ideas, and social groupings—without flattening differences or erasing conflict? Through essays, case studies, accompanied by two exhibitions, workshops, and visually poetic narratives staged in summer and fall 2024, readers are taken into a liminal world between materiality and imagination, tradition and innovation.

Written in both German and English, CLUBS of the Future is essential reading for architects, urban sociologists, artists, cultural theorists, and anyone interested in how built environments can support new forms of commonality. This book is not just for the design studio—it’s for public thinkers, community organizers, and citizens envisioning resilient futures.