The former Tonofenfabrik (Clay Oven Factory) is situated in the historic centre of Lahr in Germany, close to the remains of the medieval castle ‘Storchenturm’ and the medieval town wall. In danger of complete deterioration, the listed building has been reinvented as a City Museum utilizing this strategic urban location to create a destination for tourists and residents alike involving them with the history and heritage of Lahr in a way the old museum in the city’s park was never able to. The old industrial brick building was not only transformed into a modern museum, but the somewhat incomplete ‘L’ shaped volume has been completed by a new stair tower forming a coherent ensemble of old and new.
Settlements Haus B is located in in the town of Dreieich, within the vicinity of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Here the house is embedded in a quite typical suburban housing settlement that had been developed during the 1960s. Today, this settlement depicts both: the aesthetics of an increasingly wealthy, yet rather conservative and homogeneous suburban society during the so-called “Wirtschaftswunder” of post-war Germany; and a heavily plural and individualist approach towards the aesthetics of one’s own house that manifests itself in a rather eclectic collage of styles since the 1990s.
The former local societal, cultural and aesthetic conventions of the1960s reflect themselves in a rather homogeneous array of small-scale bungalows and houses with allegedly local stylistic elements, such as gabled or hipped roofs and a rather rustic-style use of materials. On the other side a much more differentiated and somewhat reckless approach to size and individualized aesthetics has filled empty plots but also replaced existing houses since the 1990s. Thus, Haus B finds itself in an apparently homogeneous, yet at least architecturally also quite ambiguous neighbourhood. Here it has to balance the needs of contemporary living and aesthetics with the cultural and formal implications of a grown context that is typical for many suburban settlements throughout the region.
From Design to Construction Documentation (LPH1-5): one fine day. office for architectural design, Daniela Hake, Holger Hoffmann, Hajdiin Dragusha, Janis Millard, Gabriele Gölzer
Tender and Site Supervision (LPH6-8): Ulrike Thies, Freie Architektin, M.Sc. IPM
Structural Design: Wassink Ingenieure, Jürgen Scholte-Wassink
The Nuremberg Concert Hall extends the historically rich heritage of the Meistersingerhalle and enriches the cultural city of Nuremberg with a unique musical experience in which music and space become one. Based on Nuremberg’s landmark, the duality of its the twin castles, two buildings side by side create a synergetic connection to a coherent unity. Connected in a symbolic ‘band’, a circulating podium made of natural stone links the ensemble.
The solid base grounds the structure, which creates an inviting lightness through its vertical foyer as a central distributor together with a translucent, energy-optimized roof construction.
In Essen (Germany) the last two blocks of a homeless shelter were handed over to the users in 2018. The three clearly structured, parallel buildings characterised by exposed concrete and sky-blue glazed bricks are the result of an invitation to tender issued by the City of Essen. What was sought were new buildings for a homeless shelter for 119 people, as well as office space for 2 social workers and 2 housing administrators. RKW Architektur + won the public tender with its modular concept. Despite or precisely because of the tight budget, the architects were able to deliver a complex of noticeable architectural quality.
It’s the new generation of youth hostels – innovative, integrative and international – and has recently opened in Bayreuth, Germany. The fluid structure is integrated into the landscape, with contemporary materials and holistic sustainability – a place for active people of all abilities.
With their design of the Perlach Plaza, AlleswirdGut provide an important puzzle stone in the urban development of the new “KulturQuadrat” quarter on Munich’s Hanns Seidel Square. An urban mixed use of retail and service businesses, restaurants, residential units, and a hotel make Perlach Plaza the calling card of the new Neuperlach neighborhood.
At the heart of the master plan is a roughly 5,000 square meter central park enclosed, and shielded, by buildings. On a total gross floor area of 50,000 square meters, high-quality usable floor space is being developed in the mixed-used complex of Perlach Plaza with direct connection to the subway system, the cultural center on the north side, and the park through a transit floor.
Competition Team: Anna Kapranova, Christine Bödicker, Daniel Pannacci, Felix Reiner, Jonas Wehrle, Marko Acimovic
Project Team: Christine Bödicker, Eva Birova, Ferdinand Kersten, Jan Fischer, Johannes Windbichler, Julia Stockinger, Kerstin Schön, Lena Waldenberger, Marko Acimovic, Markus Stürzenbacher, Michal Stehlik, Ondrej Stehlik, Patrick Tinauer, Till Martin
The European Education Centre for the Housing and Real Estate Industry (EBZ) in Bochum is the sector’s largest education provider in Germany and has been enlarged with the addition of a training and event centre. The design by Gerber Architekten from Dortmund, who were awarded a first prize in a competition, was constructed in just two years. The completed building was inaugurated in the presence of Ina Scharrenbach (Minister of Home Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Construction and Equal Rights) at the Housing and Real Estate summer party on Thursday 19.07.2018.
Centogene AG is a company that operates worldwide in the field of analysis of rare congenital diseases through genetic diagnostic testing. Originated by a spin-off from the University of Rostock, the company is growing rapidly and dynamically. The decision for a new building has been made for about 220 employees at the location Rostock.
The new location is realized in an attractive position at the water front on the Silohalbinsel in Rostock. The building design consists of staggered structures: a continuous podium on the ground floor with the main entrance and two rising 2-storey structures. They surround above the ground floor a semi-public greened atrium which opens on both sides towards the water.
The location of House Three is characterised by an unobstructed view of the Swabian Alps, which includes a medieval monastery located in the centre of the village. It was desired by the owners to have the monastery in direct sight from the house. The fulfilment of this wish was complicated by a tight development plan and a narrow construction window. Nevertheless, in satisfying the needs of the brief a structural geometry was developed that allowed for a complete view of the monastery – the balcony area on the south side of the house was extruded out of the building envelope, allowing for the panoramic view over the village and the surrounding landscape.
Article source: Bernd Steinhuber and FIPE Architecture
At Light & Building 2018 in Frankfurt, visitors encountered XAL in a minimalistic abstract city. It is the background, it is essential.
A city is not merely the sum of its structures, its ambiance, its participants and how they shape it. It consists of stories. It consists of history. It consists of frontiers and limits. Where in earlier times there were walls made of stone, today is is capital that sets the boundaries. And it is the exclusivity of what lies within these boundaries that seems superficially desirable.
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