ARCH+ features 132: Räume / Lehre / Umbau

In the organizer's words:

The ecological, social and political crises of our time demand new answers - and new spaces. Universities in particular, with their transformative potential, have a central role to play here: both in training a new generation of architects and in conveying a broader understanding of the profession. They are not only places of knowledge production, but also key players in social change - as the current ARCH+ 261:Urban Redevelopment - Schools of Transformation shows.

The example of the Engineering Science Center (IWZ) at Cologne University of Applied Sciences shows how closely spatial, institutional and social transformation processes are intertwined. The building is to be demolished in the coming years to make way for the modernization project "New Campus Deutz". The planned conversion marks not only a structural but also an institutional turning point: it raises the question of how universities can adapt to the challenges of structural change in terms of space and content.

In the ARCH+ features, Thorsten Erl (University of Siegen), Tabea Michaelis (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts) and Hannes Soballa (student at TH Köln, initiative.umbau) discuss with Sascha Kellermann (ARCH+) the realignment of the curriculum and how universities can develop the power to act where traditional politics, planning and market logic reach their limits.