DESIGN STUDIO

Instructor(s): Christiane Weber, René Heusler

The student residences on the Vaihingen campus, designed by the renowned Swiss firm Atelier 5 between 1966 and 1972, are listed buildings. In order to continue to be used and adapted to the current needs of the residents, these post-war modernist buildings must be renovated and climate-adapted. This design project focuses on the search for such a  renovation strategy and the necessary structural measures. As part of the accompanying seminar ‘Punktwolke 3.0’ (Point Cloud 3.0), digital methods of inventory recording are used to develop the planning basis. 

Instructor(s): Ulrike Plate, Maria Saum

What is a monument? Why do we deal with it and how? Why is monument preservation a state task? What are its goals, what can we expect from it? What does it have to do with us? What contribution can heritage conservation make in a changing world? What does it have to do with building culture, environmental protection and sustainability? And how does it actually work: maintaining monuments? How do we as architects prepare a measure, what special features need to be taken into account?

We approach these and other questions from different angles in the seminar. We will look at the development of the concept of a monument, important manifestos of monument preservation, as well as legal and organisational issues. Recognising the construction, function and significance of a building is the ideal starting point for architects to repair or convert it. How do I research a monument? What methods are there for this? What special authorisations need to be observed, what funding is available? What can the actual handling of a listed building look like? Many questions relating to monument preservation are worked out and discussed together.

In the seminar, students can independently pursue research projects of their own choice in the fields of architectural history, construction history or building research. 
Individually supervised, scientific methods and presentation media are tested and discussed in joint colloquia. The seminar supports independent academic work in preparation for  academic papers, the Master's thesis or dissertation

Instructor(s): Roman Hillmann

In view of the overuse of the earth, considerations regarding the reduction of living standards and consumption (Linz 2004) have also increased in architecture. However, very early and concrete voices can already be heard (Mattern 1964). Renovations and repurposing are one way forward. But if all other areas continue as before (‘construction turbo’), sustainability concepts in architecture and urban planning will become “greenwashing” for the industry. Initiatives for a rethink (‘Architects for Future’) have long been in place. They like to use a slogan that was written on a banner and unveiled in 1968 during the student protests at the Technical University of Berlin: ‘All houses are beautiful. Stop building!’ The seminar deals with the history of this demand and with the motives and consequences of striving to end new construction. In the seminar, students can contribute trends and aspects between 1960 and 2010, subject to agreement. There will also be an excursion to Dortmund (Hansa coking plant and Zollern colliery) to explore the aspect of the conversion of industrial monuments in more depth.

Instructor(s): Prof. Christiane Weber, Maria Saum, Volker Schwieger

The building turnaround challenges us to stop constructing new buildings and instead to utilise the potential of existing buildings. This presents architects with major challenges: How can we assess what a historic building can still achieve? What information do I need? Where can I find it? How do I organise the planning material? How do I recognise damage and what renovation measures are appropriate? In the seminar, we will try out methods of contemporary as-built recording, laser scanning and 3D measurements from hand sketches to point clouds and apply them to a historical building as part of a workshop lasting several days. Excursions and guest lectures will provide an insight and overview of the current state of the art technology available to us today for recording existing buildings. The seminar is organised in cooperation with the Institute of Engineering Geodesy.

Instructor(s): Simon Paulus

The acoustic optimisation of buildings and rooms is now almost a matter of course in the field of building design. It is now mostly handled by specialist design offices. Building acoustics is a relatively young discipline that only became established in the late 19th century. Previously, there was only empirical knowledge gained from centuries of practice and observation, which builders used to achieve sometimes astonishing architectural solutions with special room. Particularly with regard to the performance of music, whether in a secular or sacred context, a whole range of room shapes and types developed, which led to the establishment of the concert hall as a separate building type, but sometimes also produced completely different ‘effective’ spatial curiosities.  
Since ancient times, music has had a special interchangeable relationship with architecture, making it worthwhile to take a look at the long history of this relationship. The seminar will explore this fruitful interrelationship between sound, music, acoustics and architecture in its historical development. The focus will be on spaces or parts of spaces that were designed for the performance of music. The question of how and at what times architecture and musical performance and composition practice, as well as the spatial and listening experience, particularly influenced each other will be explored.

Two excursions are planned as part of the seminar, one of which will take place in the Stuttgart area.