On the occasion of the exhibition "Protest/Architecture - Barricades, Camps, Superglue" at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum Frankfurt am Main, students from the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Architecture at TU Munich (wise 2022/23) and guest students from the Bachelor's and Master's Degree Programmes in Interior Architecture at HFT Stuttgart (suse 2023), under the direction of Professor Andreas Kretzer, examined architectural structures in which protest manifests itself spatially.
The "crime scene" of the protest camp was taken literally with a detective-like forensic eye and an elaborate search for clues was carried out in order to transfer visual characteristics into the architectural model. Plan drawings existed only sparsely or not at all and had to be reconstructed from photographs, as most of the study objects no longer existed. As a result of this search for clues, nine detailed architectural dioramas of selected protest architectures were created as exhibits on a scale of 1:10.
Designing is a series of correct decisions - in this case in the translation to model scale. Scenographic working methods were used. Which point in time or which time window (structural condition during the course of the protest, season, weather) is chosen? Which scenography and which section are significant for the protest architecture? Which buildings are signature buildings and were particularly present and influential in the media?
Pars pro toto - the excerpt becomes a stage and a three-dimensional can. As in the film, the off-screen also plays a role in the close-up, and must therefore be considered and have an effect on the model space. Condensing, but not inventing anything. Central elements of the protest - people, movement, sounds - are missing. Props are the protagonists of the scene and are carefully composed. In contrast to ordinary designs, used structures (patina, corrosion, dirt) and traces of human actions become the theme.
Through the high degree of improvisation with ready-mades and the appropriation of the existing (street furniture, street lamps, etc.), the students dealt with anonymous, experimental and temporary buildings as well as special forms of re-use and reproduced their creation process in miniature. In this way, they discovered that protests are also designed, develop their own architectural language and pose for the camera as self-promoters: Signs, gestures and symbols.
Text: Andreas Kretzer
Congratulations on this success!
Having previously been on show at the DAM - Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt am Main, the exhibition will be on display at the MAK, Museum of Applied Arts, Viennafrom February 14, to August 25, 2024.
www.mak.at/protestarchitecture
Further information on the competition
https://www.competitionline.com/de/news
News article by the Faculty of Architecture and Design on the exhibition
www.hft-stuttgart.com/studies/fields-of-study/architecture-and-design/news
This year, the projects submitted are even more in tune with the times. The content of the designs underlines a trend in architecture teaching: social issues and the reference to current issues are becoming more important - "out of the ivory tower". This change of perspective holds great promise for the relevance of architecture.
After intensive discussion, the jury decided to award the prize in the "Faculty Projects" category to the project "Protest/Architecture - Architectural Dioramas of Protest Camps". "The exhibition is a mirror of our time," said interior design professor Oliver Hantke. The jury praised the fact that a current social issue was addressed in the teaching.
Assessment by the jury
"The work documents down to the smallest detail which structures and architectures are created when protest is translated spatially," says Ramona Schwertfeger. According to the jury, the protest camps are reduced to an original form of architecture that is limited to the satisfaction of basic needs. This creates unique spatial situations. "The students have captured moments in which the protest camps have changed the urban space in an impressive way," says Max Malte Messner. The exhibition demonstrates how people appropriate public space and rededicate it as a temporary living space in order to draw attention to grievances through their spatial presence. "This aspect makes the project particularly contemporary and relevant," emphasizes Petra Vondenhof-Anderhalten.
Source: www.competitionline.com
Participating students Technical University of Munich
Henry Höcherl, Lukas Müller, Tuvanna Gül, Maria Karaivanova, Todor Rusev, Selin Uyarlar, Laurie Castella, Mathilde Larose, Nini Huang, Tang Yishui, Xu Xiaoru, Juliana Baumgart and Anggiolina Garcia
Participating students Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences
Gamze Ceylan, Beyza Günaydin, Christina Krammer, Alexandra Delgado Reboll, Müge Özkan, Nazlican Yesilyurt, Tanushree Arya, Billur Duru, Sayali Khadse, Annet Thomas, Revna Elif Çelik, Stefan-Alin Fulop, Iulia-Alexia Hent and Ceren Ìzgi
