DESIGN STUDIO

Instructor(s): Prof. Christiane Weber, René Heusler

Alongside the schoolhouse and church, House R is one of the buildings that characterise Untersteinbach. Despite all traffic planning efforts, it still stands in the centre of the small village, and only the preservation order prevented its demolition. However, for the long-term preservation (and maintenance) of the empty residential building from 1779, a suitable use is essential. This draft deals with the search for such a use and the planning of the necessary structural measures. As part of the seminar ‘Point cloud - and now what?’, the planning basis was developed in WS 24/25 using digital methods of inventory recording. 

Instructor(s): Prof. Christiane Weber, Reinhold Bauer (WGT)

Immediately after the end of World War II, MAN attempted to respond to the urgent housing shortage with its own steel house. These modular steel houses were linked to the hope of transferring the experience gained from Fordist automobile production to housing construction. Their modular construction made it possible to build different types from house to house. Today, several surviving examples of the MAN Stahlhaus (= steel house) have already been transferred to open-air museums. In the seminar, we will look at these monuments from the perspective of construction history and cultural history.

The seminar is organised in cooperation with the Department of the History of Technology of the Institute of History as part of the DFG SPP 2255 ‘Kulturerbe Konstruktion’. The results will form the basis for an exhibition and the mediation work planned for it. 

Instructor(s): Prof. Christiane Weber

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): Dr. Dietlinde Schmitt-Vollmer

In this seminar we will look at monasteries - sophisticated architectural typologies that enable a retreat from society into independent spiritual communities. How are monasteries structured, what kind of functions do they fulfill and what tasks did they have in the past?

‘Ora et labora’ - pray and work - summarises the monastic way of life. Accordingly, the typical spatial programme of a monastery includes elements such as a church, cloister, workrooms, stables, hospital, dining rooms and dormitories, etc. Monastery architecture combines spirituality with functional processes, reflects asceticism, but also representation and the expression of independence or political power.
Who were the patrons of monastery foundations? What interests did they pursue with the monasteries, their monumental building sites, unique aesthetic concepts, regulations and construction methods?

In the seminar, we will first look at the various religious orders and the monastery architecture of the Middle Ages and the Baroque period. Building on this, we will also analyse more recent examples, such as the Sainte-Marie de La Tourette monastery by Le Corbusier, and look at conversion concepts in the course of secularisation and today. Full-day excursions to monasteries in the region and a half-day excursion are planned to explore the topic in greater depth.

['Gott sei Dank' translates to 'Thank God']

Instructor(s): Dr. Dietlinde Schmitt-Vollmer

The examination of ornament is inextricably linked to questions about the expressiveness, beauty and comprehensibility of architecture. Since the publication of Adolf Loos' Ornament and Crime in 1910 and the concurrent dictate of taste by the Deutscher Werkbund, ornament, embellishment and decoration were largely denied the right to exist. In architecture, this led to a broad shift towards formal reduction and material honesty.

But what is the difference between ornament, decoration and pattern? Can't material also have a lavish, sensual or ornamental effect? Do decorative or ornamental constructions exist? To what extent can ornamental elements break through architectural concepts? What influence do performative design methods, such as Peter Eisenman's, or parametric design have on formal designs? Are we experiencing a revival of the ornament?

We want to address these and other questions in the summer semester. We will take a historical approach to the topic by analysing buildings, architects and relevant texts. 

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): Prof. Christiane Weber

The lecture, which extends over 2 semesters, offers an introduction to the history of European architecture.

Instructor(s): Christian Vöhringer, Baris Wenzel

Frei Otto, one of the most important architects of the 20th century, has left a lasting mark on the world of architecture with his innovative and visionary buildings.

The Pritzker Prize winner and his team demonstrated 70 years ago with lightweight constructions how material-saving, precise and efficient construction is possible - a topic that seems more important than ever today. On the occasion of the upcoming 100th anniversary of his birth, his work will be re-examined and suitable, creative and effective communication strategies will be sought for next year's celebrations.

This seminar examines selected Frei Otto projects and their potential relevance to current challenges. In developing strategies for publicising the results, we would like to develop concepts for - for example - social media, websites, QR codes and apps, and work them out in an impromptu manner.

Instructor(s): Simon Paulus

With the title ‘World Heritage Site’, UNESCO recognises evidence of human cultural achievements that are particularly worthy of protection and preservation and that have an exceptional universal value for the whole of humanity. In most cases, these are architectural achievements that mark artistic or technological highlights in the history of human civilisation. It is therefore all the more remarkable that in the last two nomination rounds, two new World Heritage sites were added to the list, both of which are rather inconspicuous architectural testimonies: The relics of the once flourishing medieval Jewish culture in ‘Ashkenaz’ (the Jewish term for the original central settlement area of the communities in Germany), which have been preserved in Erfurt and in the so-called ShUM cities of Speyer, Worms and Mainz.

Against the backdrop of growing anti-Semitism, such cultural artefacts are particularly well suited to understanding and communicating Jewish history and culture as an integral and shared part of our society. Especially from the perspective of architecture and urban planning history, the examination of these cultural artefacts provides new perspectives on the development of our cities and the protagonists, mechanisms and processes that determined the development of the city and the emergence of the respective architectural phenomena. In the seminar, these phenomena will be examined and analysed more closely in the context of their development. Excursions are planned to Schwäbisch Gmünd and a visit to the World Heritage Sites in Erfurt, where it will be possible to vividly convey the close links between Jewish settlement and cultural history and the structure, architecture and topography of the city. Against this background, aspects of the ‘Critical Heritage Studies’ currently propagated in the specialist community will also be critically reflected upon and discussed.

Instructor(s): Dietlinde Schmitt-Vollmer

The aspects of collecting and exhibiting have changed over the course of history from the cabinet of curiosities, the private cabinet of curiosities, manorial collections to the bourgeois educational centre of the 19th century and today's event venue.

The seminar deals with the historical development of museum construction in the context of social changes and looks at the demands and possibilities of the conversion and further utilisation of existing architecture.

Museum buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries will be analysed under typological and technical aspects. How did these early ‘prototypes’ function and what social factors were behind the museum building boom of the late 20th century? Which developments are still relevant today?

Another focus is on the conversion of existing buildings into museums and the expansion of exhibition complexes. Examples include the Castelvecchio Museum by Carlo Scarpa, the Architecture Museum in Frankfurt, the Tate Modern by Herzog & de Meuron in London and the Ruhr Museum in the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex.

The seminar will also discuss spatial experiences, visitor guidance and exhibition concepts. 

Instructor(s): René Heusler, Maria Saum

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 inventory recording (from Disto to 3D scans, 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.

Instructor(s): Dietlinde Schmitt-Vollmer

The seminar deals with concepts of utopias in an architectural and urban planning context and looks at outstanding visionary architectural projects. The different approaches of these unrealised or built plans, which were intended to liberalise the coexistence of people in future communities or to regulate and control them more strongly through urban planning, will be discussed.

Beginning with the literary origins of Plato and Thomas Moore's ‘Utopia’, the seminar will focus on actually built planned cities of the Renaissance, such as Palma Nova, utopian living communities such as Charles Fourier's Phalanstère in the 19th century, the garden city concept of Ebenezer Howard, the Monte Veritá of the life reformers, Buckminster Fuller's plan to dome over Manhattan, The Walking City by Archigram, the Clusters in the Air by the metabolist Arata Isozaki and others.

Purely technically motivated visions of the future, dystopia and science fiction are also addressed and an attempt is made to relate them to current utopian approaches.

Ulrike Plate, Stefan King, Stefan Uhl
Montags: 15:45 - 18:45  Raum 3.02
1.Termin:  08.04.24   

Was ist warum ein Denkmal? Und warum gehen wir wie damit um? Wieso ist Denkmalpflege eine staatliche Aufgabe? Was sind ihre Ziele, was können wir von ihr erwarten? Was hat das mit uns zu tun? Welchen Beitrag kann Denkmalpflege in einer sich verändernden Welt liefern? Was hat sie mit Baukultur, Umweltschutz und Nachhaltigkeit zu tun? ­Und wie funktioniert das eigentlich: Denkmale pflegen? Wie bereiten wir als Architekt*innen eine Maßnahme vor, welche Besonderheiten sind zu berücksichtigen?

Diesen und weiteren Fragen nähern wir uns im Seminar von verschiedenen Seiten. Es geht um die Entwicklung des Denkmalbegriffs, um wichtige Manifeste der Denkmalpflege, aber auch um rechtliche und organisatorische Themen. Das Erkennen eines Gebäudes in seiner Konstruktion, Funktion und Bedeutung ist der ideale Ausgangspunkt für Architekt*innen, um es zu reparieren oder umzubauen. Wie erforsche ich ein Denkmal? Welche Methoden gibt es dafür? Welche besonderen Genehmigungen sind zu beachten, welche Fördermittel gibt es? Wie kann der konkrete Umgang mit einem Baudenkmal aussehen? Viele Fragen rund um die Denkmalpflege werden gemeinsam erarbeitet und besprochen.

Dr.-Ing. Dietlinde Schmitt-Vollmer
Dienstags 14:00 - 17:00 Uhr  Raum  7.01
1.Termin: 09.04.24   

Benjamin Schmid
Dienstags 09:45 - 13:00 Uhr    Raum 5.17
1.Termin: 09.04.2024

Prof. Christiane Weber / Dipl.-Ing. Henning Meyer
Mittwochs 9:45 - 13:00 Uhr   Raum 5.17
1.Termin: 10.04.24  

Dr.-Ing. Dietlinde Schmitt-Vollmer
Donnerstags 14:00 - 17:00 Uhr  Raum 5.17
1.Termin: 11.04.24   

Dr. Roman Hillmann
Freitags 14:00 - 17:00 Uhr Raum 5.17
1.Termin: 12.04.2024