Tobias Ortel from raumbildung: Workshops on co-creation and space as a third educator

Participation is not a nice-to-have. If you want to build educational places that work, you have to be able to listen – and be willing to change perspectives. Tobias Ortel brings exactly these topics to his workshops at SCHULBAU Essen. The school construction consultant, architect, urban developer and lecturer in building culture education specialises in a phase that is often neglected in school construction practice: the beginning.

In two workshops, Tobias Ortel will show how spatial quality is created when users are involved at an early stage and potentials are taken into account. The tools for this are provided by his project “raumbildung” – an interdisciplinary approach that combines conception, moderation, architecture and pedagogy.

Spatial formation: Thinking about phase zero in concrete terms

In the first workshop, participants experience a complete co-creation process on a small scale. Together, a fictitious new school building is designed with real requirements, priorities and discussions. If you want to be heard, you have to be asked. And if you want to build spaces for community, you should know how this community works. The aim is to create a lively spatial concept that arises from participation – and not only for them.

The workshop is aimed at school authorities, planners, teachers and anyone who wants to know how good school construction processes can begin: structured, participatory, goal-oriented.

Changing spaces with everyday knowledge

The second workshop continues where many schools are today: in existing buildings, with limited resources. Together with the participants, Tobias Ortel develops direct solutions for concrete pedagogical challenges. How can a room be used more flexibly, a learning area more open, a corner more sensibly? With simple interventions – from furniture to spatial logic – it is shown how space can become effective as a third pedagogue. The method: pragmatic, participatory, tried-and-tested.

Both workshops are intertwined: they show how participation does not make architectural processes more complicated, but clearer. And that good ideas don’t always need large budgets.

About Tobias Ortel

Tobias Ortel works at the interface of architecture, education and urban development. After studying in Cottbus, Stuttgart and Hong Kong, he worked as an urban developer, architect and investment expert, among other things. Today he works for educational institutions, administrations and municipalities. He is also a lecturer at the State Institute for Teacher Education Hamburg for the field of exercise and sport as well as visual arts and course instructor for building culture education in schools. His focus is on co-creation, spatial mediation and social transformation processes.

📍 SCHULBAU Essen 2025
📅 24–25 September 2025
📌Messe Essen Foyer East
🎤 Workshops by Tobias Ortel:
“How can school renovations and new buildings succeed in the long term? – Co-creation (see also Phase Zero) at and with schools” & “How does ‘space’ influence pedagogical work? – Development of pragmatic-spatial solutions that make a difference in pedagogical work”
🕓 To the program: CLICK!