Salon Schlitz. Retro Design for Future

Eröffnungsfeier

Anyone stepping into the hair salon Am Alten See in Rödelheim for the first time is both delighted and surprised. It is an authentic 1970s interior: rows of hood dryers line the walls, purple salon chairs and Wella ashtrays evoke another era. The space feels like a time capsule, a living fragment of Frankfurt life from almost sixty years ago. The owners and architects recognised that this unique atmosphere should not be erased, but preserved. At the same time, the salon is being reactivated and reimagined – through art, design, culture and, above all, through people.

This project is not only about the past, but equally about the future. How do we want to live and dwell in Frankfurt? Building within existing structures, renovating rather than demolishing, acting sustainably, reusing instead of discarding, upcycling as a mindset. It is about civic engagement and democracy, local self-organisation within the neighbourhood, and the connection between design, culture and education. Children and neighbours, young and old – regionally connected and involved. It has worked: Salon Schlitz has become part of the World Design Capital, and Rödelheim part of an international design discourse – a laboratory for the future.

Alongside guided visits of the salon spaces, there will be short talks on the history of the shop and the building, on the concept and projects of Salon Schlitz under the title “Retro Design for Future”, and on the work of the association Kulturnetz Frankfurt.

Opening performance:

• Be Poet – Electro Sound Poetry. Live poetry accompanied by electronic music.
• And of course, the Salon Bar will be open
• Admission is free.
• Directions: From Rödelheim S-Bahn Station, head to the station forecourt (Baruch Baschwitzplatz), turn left into Alexanderstraße and follow it straight on, continuing past Lorscherstraße. At Alter See, turn left (opposite the sports hall).

DIRK HÜLSTRUNK Author, audio artist, lecturer, presenter, cultural activist. Workshops. Poetry projects Book fair. Literature podcasts. Reading series Schnittstellen.

MICHAEL BLOECK Freelance artist and poet. Be Poet Off Space, board member of Kulturnetz Frankfurt, VS Hessen.