ZukunftsRaum - New forms of living together

From June 12 to July 27, 2025, the ZukunftsRaum exhibition at the Bilker Bunker in Düsseldorf invites you to experience - and help shape - the city of tomorrow. Visitors can expect walk-in installations, participatory workshops and AI-supported formats on around 500 m² that address key questions about our urban future: How do we want to live together?

Invitation

To mark the end of the exhibition "ZukunftsRaum - Neue Formen des Zusammenlebens" (FutureSpace - New Forms of Living Together), we invite you to a public evening with discussion and exchange on Thursday, July 24, from 6 to 9 pm.

After a short welcome address by Tatiana Helfrich (Stiftung Nachhaltigkeit der Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf) and Andreas Knapp (Küssdenfrosch Projektentwickler), the focus will be on two central results of the exhibition:

The thesis workshop, conceived by Hanna Bonekämper (KIT), in which citizens worked together with experts to develop concrete ideas for a fair, sustainable city - on the topics of supplying, repurposing and sharing.

The visions of the future developed by visitors to the exhibition in dialog with the AI Antonio - programmed by Max Mundhenke and Jan Silbersiepe. They show new perspectives on the urban coexistence of tomorrow.

Following the presentation of these results, they will be handed over to representatives from politics and administration. For the subsequent panel discussion, we have invited the mayoral candidates and parliamentary group leaders of all democratic parties to discuss the ideas with the audience. The final line-up will be published shortly.

We look forward to exchanging ideas together - in good weather also on the Bunker Terrace!

ZukunftsRaum - New forms of living together

In a time of crisis and uncertainty, we need new ideas, confidence and the courage to shape the future together. That is why this summer we are opening a creative and interactive space for urban development behind the meter-thick concrete walls of the Bilker Bunker - breaking down walls!

We need your support to realize our exhibition ZukunftsRaum: with your donation, you can make workshops, accessible installations and a barrier-free design possible. You can find our crowdfunding campaign here.

Thank you for making the future possible!

"Hollein Calling"

As part of the exhibition "ZukunftsRaum - Neue Formen des Zusammenlebens" (FutureSpace - New Forms of Living Together), the architecture class of the Düsseldorf Art Academy is showing designs from the years 2024/25 that deal with the urban embedding of the Museum Abteiberg.

The architecture class at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art refers to its former professor Hans Hollein (1967-1976) when it now revisits his first building of the Museum Abteiberg together with its current professors (2024/25). Hollein's early design practice was as experimental and collage-like, as clearly related to the contemporary public as the students' current designs, which are partly analog and partly digital: For countless original drawings and documents of design processes have been preserved from Hollein's early practice, overdrawings, variants, experimental studies that repeatedly dealt with the acute ideal of novel uses, sensualities and symbolic qualities of architecture.

Exhibition duration:
July 16 - 20, 2025

Ideas. Spaces. Perspectives.

Young architecture between art, society and experiment

The Department of Architecture at Alanus University in Alfter is showing a selection of current student projects and final theses in the Bilker Bunker as part of the exhibition "ZukunftsRaum - Neue Formen des Zusammenlebens".
The focus is on the work of future architects with a fresh perspective, who dedicate themselves to the challenges of our built environment with creativity, experimentation and social commitment. The projects move between architecture, art and society and develop bold, interdisciplinary answers to the questions of our time.
Whether vacancy, resilient urban development or community-oriented living space - the exhibition presents a wide range of ideas and visionary design approaches that open up new perspectives and inspire us to think further.
The exhibition will kick off on July 23, 2025 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with an opening event featuring a joint tour of the exhibition, introductory words by Prof. Benedikt Stahl and the presence of the students.
 

Exhibition duration: July 23 - 27, 2025  

From the bunker to the curb

Summer, sun, aperitivo! The time has come and you can finally enjoy good drinks not only behind the meter-thick concrete walls, but also in front of them - on our Bunker Terrace directly on the sidewalk in front of the Bilker Bunker. Our small but fine aperitif bar will be open from May 22 on Wednesdays to Saturdays from 5 to 9 pm. Come, sit, watch and drink!

THE “BILKER BUNKER” THROUGH THE AGES

Air-raid shelter no. 25 - the Bilk high-rise bunker on the corner of Aachener Straße and Karolingerstraße was built as such in 1942. The architect Carl Krieger (1875-1957) was responsible for the planning.

In 1995, the grey bunker in Bilk was given a colorful makeover at the request of the local population: within six weeks, it was painted by an international group of artists under the direction of Klaus Klinger (Farbfieber). The “Time Travelers” mural symbolizes the fragile coexistence of different cultures in a shared world.

In 2016, the project developer KÜSSDENFROSCH took over the bunker and developed a multi-layered art and culture concept. The redesign of the bunker was implemented by Bilker Bunker gGmbH with the creativity, courage and ideas of committed neighbors and the citizens' initiative “Bilk Pro Bunker”. We would like to thank everyone involved for their time and commitment.

The history exhibition can be seen during regular opening hours as part of the exhibition eight planets, one star, one world.

Archive

Past exhibitions and events in the Bilker Bunker

»BILKER BUNKER« SHOP

SHOPPING FOR A GOOD CAUSE

In our small but nice shop at the main entrance you can buy artists' catalogues, architecture books, limited art prints, editions and our »Bilker Bunker« merchandise consisting of posters, shoppers, T-shirts and sweaters. And best of all: the generated funds go to charitable causes and support our art and cultural formats! 
The shop is open during the exhibition hours (Wed & Fri 5:00 pm–9:00 pm and Sat & Sun 12:00 pm–6:00 pm).