Renée van Oploo
Fine artist & researcher
info@reneevanoploo.nl
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BIO
As a visual artist I bring together practice and reflection, using installations, essays, workshops and collaborative projects to question how art might create space for shared experience and ethical thought. Alongside my practice I teach at St. Joost School of Art & Design and conduct research at the Centre of Applied Research for Art, Design and Technology (CARADT), and I work collectively as part of YAFF. Research
Subverting “Creative Placemaking:”
How a Berlin Art Stunt Turned into a Model for Democratic Urban Development
by Sebastian Olma and Renée van Oploo
December 16th, 2025
Published in
Institute of Network Cultures – Longform
ABSTRACT
This article examines whether creative placemaking can be redefined as a democratic and common-good–oriented form of urban development. In many contemporary policy contexts, creative placemaking mobilises art and culture as tools for urban regeneration, city branding and real estate development, often contributing to gentrification and displacement. Against this background, the article analyses the Haus der Statistik project in Berlin as an alternative approach. The project originated in 2015 with an artistic intervention by the collective Allianz bedrohter Berliner Atelierhäuser (AbBA), which drew attention to the vacancy of a large building complex near Alexanderplatz. What began as a performative protest gradually developed into a large-scale redevelopment process involving artists, activists, civil society organisations and municipal institutions.
The case study explores how this initiative evolved into a Public-Civic Partnership, a governance model that brings public authorities and civic actors together in the co-production of urban space. Through participatory planning processes, experimental temporary uses and collaborative decision-making, the project seeks to develop affordable housing, cultural spaces, social infrastructure and public services within a shared framework oriented toward the common good.
The analysis suggests that the Haus der Statistik project demonstrates how artistic activism can move beyond the instrumental role often assigned to artists in neoliberal urban development. Instead, artistic practices can contribute to participatory forms of city-making that foreground collective responsibility, social infrastructure and long-term civic engagement. At the same time, the project remains fragile due to institutional tensions, political shifts and the difficulty of sustaining democratic participation over extended periods. The case nevertheless illustrates how creative placemaking might be reimagined as a practice of collaborative urban development grounded in affordability, participation and the circulation of urban resources.