ROTTERDAM.- Sport reflects and shapes the social dynamics in our society. Spaces such as stadiums, sports fields, and sports cafés can foster a sense of togetherness and group belonging, but they can also lead to division and exclusion. How can architecture break this cycle? How can we design spaces to encourage coexistence so that no one has to watch from the sidelines anymore?

Nieuwe Instituut, the museum and institute for architecture, design, and digital culture in Rotterdam, is opening SIDELINED: A Space to Rethink Togetherness. Following appearances at the Venice Architecture Biennale and the Concéntrico Festival in Logroño, Spain, the Deck of the Nieuwe Instituut will be transformed into an alternative sports bar from Friday 10 July.

This venue offers opportunities to play, experience and connect with others. It’s free to visit and everyone is welcome to join in. Throughout the event, the Nieuwe Instituut will organise various events, as well as a number of sports and games sessions where Rotterdammers can get in on the action!

Transforming uniforms, unfamiliar team formations and shape-shifting playing fields

SIDELINED was curated by Amanda Pinatih on behalf of the Nieuwe Instituut for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025. At its centre is the work of social designer Gabriel Fontana. In the team sports he has developed, he alters the usual rules and playfully explores prevailing societal norms regarding identity, community and inclusion.

In the alternative sports bar on the Deck of the Nieuwe Instituut, three of Fontana’s team sports can be viewed on large screens: Multiform, Anonymous Alliance, and Fluid Field. With transforming uniforms, unfamiliar team formations and shape-shifting playing fields, these sports allow players to experience new ways of playing together without traditional roles and structures.





Table football, a sports newspaper and a well-stocked trophy cabinet

In the sports bar, designed by Koos Breen and Jeannette Slütter, you'll also find all kinds of recognisable references to the world of sport in which the fixed rules are abandoned. Such as the Fluid Foosball Table: a reinterpretation of the beloved pub table football game, with a fluid playing field and without fixed teams.

There is also a sports newspaper featuring interviews with the owners of two Rotterdam venues that bring diverse communities together through sport: Queer Gym Rotterdam and Sportcafé Costa del Sol. You can also listen to a sound piece by Luca Soudant, which is based on recordings from Trans* Pride Berlin 2022. Alice Wong has created a silent film montage about sport as a space for political resistance and transformation.

The well-stocked trophy cabinet contains trophies that reflect Fontana’s team sports. They are awarded based on collaboration, improvisation and care. The important thing is not whether you win the game, but how you choose to play it.

Aukje Bolle, Business Director, and Yesomi Umolu, Artistic Director, Nieuwe Instituut:
“As a museum for architecture, design, and digital culture, the Nieuwe Instituut is delighted to contribute to the summer of sport in 2026. But then, as people have come to expect from us, we will do so in a completely unique way with a project that explores how sport can be approached as an architectural system that regulates spaces, forms communities and creates connections. SIDELINED is a close collaboration between the curator, the designers, and the public. We therefore cannot wait to invite all Rotterdammers to join in the fun, both on the deck of the Nieuwe Instituut and at the sessions on location the city.”

SIDELINED is open to visitors free of charge on the Deck of the Nieuwe Instituut (above the foyer) from 10 July 2026 to 31 January 2027.