New School of Architecture in Siegen

Tue., August 27, 2024

How could the surroundings of the future New School of Architecture in Siegen be designed within the former printing plant of the Siegener Zeitung? Architecture students from Siegen and across Germany, together with five renowned architectural firms, explored this question at the second Siegen Summer School.

Creating new connections between buildings. Making the various campus areas more accessible—as barrier-free as possible and for everyone. Bringing small squares to life and using them as social spaces where university members, residents, and the city’s population can meet: Students developed these and other ideas for the further development of the University of Siegen’s downtown campus during the Department of Architecture’s second Siegen Summer School. This year’s event focused on how a sense of campus community can be fostered in the area between the Unteres Schloss in Siegen, the New School of Architecture—which will be built in the former printing house of the Siegener Zeitung—and the Häutebachweg all the way to the Löhrtor.

Following the successful inaugural event last year, the team from the Department of Architecture led by Prof. Dr. Thorsten Erl once again hosted a Summer School this year. Approximately 50 students from Siegen, all over Germany, and beyond accepted the invitation. For one week, they worked in the printing house in various teams alongside architects from five renowned architectural firms based in Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, and Cartagena (Spain). In terms of content, the second Summer School built on the first session: Whereas the focus a year ago had been on concepts for designing the New School of Architecture at the Druckhaus, this year’s program centered on the design of the surrounding area along Häutebachweg and Löhrtor, where the university’s Department of Education might find a new home in the future. The guiding principle “Reset, Reshape, Reuse” remained in effect: The focus of the discussions was not on demolition and new construction, but rather on incorporating, redesigning, and reusing existing buildings and structures.

“The students conducted research on the site and its existing structures from a wide variety of perspectives, adopting a very broad approach. They gathered information, conducted interviews with decision-makers, residents, neighboring institutions, and the future users of the site, and explored the grounds themselves. This resulted in a diverse range of ideas and concepts for the expansion of the downtown campus,” explains Prof. Dr. Thorsten Erl. As part of an exhibition featuring a guided tour, the teams presented their findings to the interested public. University Chancellor Ulf Richter and Jonas Tratz from the architectural firm FAKT—which oversaw the creation of the winning design for the New School of Architecture—commented on the concepts. Richter was impressed by the diversity of ideas and perspectives for the further development of the downtown campus: “The presentations demonstrated the potential that still lies to be tapped here. My takeaway is that, from the perspective of students and architects alike, gathering spaces and accessible pathways connecting them are central to the campus concept. The teams have developed some very exciting ideas in this regard.”

The five teams and their concepts:

• Team Urban Mining, “Baukreisel” Architecture Firm (Berlin) The students looked beyond the immediate neighborhood into the wider region to identify two key themes: 1) What spatial potential exists? 2) What material flows are present? Regarding the use of space, the idea arose to build a bridge to the Löhrtor Gymnasium to create an expanded sense of campus. To reuse materials as much as possible, the team proposed a local “building materials exchange” through which demolition materials could be collected and repurposed.
• Team Mapping, architectural firm “Projektbüro” (Hamburg) “Team Mapping” approached the topic using the situational analysis method. The students first examined the qualities as well as the problem areas currently present on the site. Building on this foundation, they then examined individual locations in greater detail. Specifically, the team developed the idea of transforming the corner of Häutebachweg and Löhrtor into a meeting place for university members and city residents—complete with seating and a ping-pong table.
• Team Urban Ecology, architects Pedro Garcia Martinez + Antonio Curezuela Motos (Cartagena, Spain) How can barriers be overcome, and how could smaller spaces be used as social gathering places? These questions were at the center of the Urban Ecology team’s deliberations. Based on this, the students developed a whole range of possible measures: A wide open staircase that could lead from Häutebachweg up to the Lower Castle, modular seating for the Schlossplatz, breaking up the white embankment along Häutebachweg, and the creation of a market and gathering space on the roof of the Löhrtor parking garage.
• Team Inclusion, architectural firm coopdisco + Ana Bisbicus (Berlin) The students engaged intensively with the topic of “inclusion” and took to the streets from the Druckhaus: They spoke with passersby, as well as with local organizations such as the AWO and Frauenhilfe, about norms, existing barriers, and what matters to people when creating spaces that are accessible to everyone. The team presented the results of their research in a way that was accessible and transparent to all citizens along the wall in front of the Druckhaus.
• Conversion/New Build Team, Demo Working Group Architecture Firm (Cologne) With a “radically optimistic” attitude and a commitment to “retroactive resilience,” concrete design sketches were developed for existing buildings such as the Mariengemeinde, the Kreishandwerkerschaft/IKK, and Villa Sauer. Among the specific proposals was a passageway through Villa Sauer to create a direct connection between the future campus and the existing student cafeteria.

Text: T. Hoffmann, University of Siegen Press Office

Thu., July 13, 2023

 Together with the architecture firms Adept, AgwA, Assemble Studio, Hütten und Paläste, Fakt+Gustav Düsing, and ZRS+coopdisco, architecture students have the opportunity to participate in the competition to repurpose the former printing house into the “New School of Architecture” from August 14 to 19. The event is worth 3 credit points. Credit recognition is the responsibility of the participating students’ respective home universities.

If you’d like to get involved in a process that brings together the existing and the new, then save the date! Up-to-date information will be posted regularly on Instagram: @architektur.unisiegen

• Background: In the face of rapidly changing realities of life, new solutions are needed for architecture and society. We are responding to this with the idea of a “New School of Architecture in Siegen,” which not only adapts to social, sustainable, and technical challenges but is also committed to consciously and decisively helping to shape them. The former printing house of the Siegener Zeitung is to serve as the new location for the architecture program. The goal is to use the renovation of the printing house to create innovative architecture that will serve as a model for new forms of university life and for treating existing structures as an important resource. This requires the participatory development of a new vision. How can architectural education and research be designed to be diverse, inspiring, and participatory?
• Project: The six architecture firms will each form working groups of 10 students to develop a design for the “New School of Architecture Siegen” on-site.
  These designs will be entered into a competition, at the end of which the best design will be realized. In addition to the design work, the summer school will be complemented by input sessions, lectures, and social evenings.
• Application: Space is limited. Please apply by July 18 via email to: druckhaus@architektur.uni-siegen.de
  Using a medium of your choice (text, drawing, photography, etc.), demonstrate on a single PDF page why the Summer School shouldn’t take place without you.
  We also need the following information: degree program, semester, home university, address, and contact information.
  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at: druckhaus@architektur.uni-siegen.de
• Housing: A limited number of affordable lodging options can be arranged through the University of Siegen’s student network. If you’re interested, please indicate this in your application.

We look forward to welcoming you to Siegen!

Participating Firms:

• Adept works across disciplines, ranging from urban planning and strategic development to building architecture and public space. Adept designs holistic, sustainable places, spaces, and communities. Starting with the site and its physical and intangible conditions, its history, and the project vision, the firm develops projects in dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure that the future grows naturally out of the present and the context in which it is rooted. The goal is to create new places for everyone through these projects.
• AgwA is a firm founded in 2003 that works primarily with a project-specific architectural language. This language emerges from an initial, reflective process that engages with the existing situation, the urban context, and the physical attributes of the building. The projects are guided by principles such as cautious boldness, an experimental approach to construction and structure, economy, and a critical mindset. Furthermore, for AgwA, the opportunity to build also means the opportunity to explore.
• Assemble Studio is a multidisciplinary collective working in the fields of architecture, design, and art. Founded in 2010 to realize a single, self-built project, Assemble has since created a diverse and award-winning body of work while maintaining a democratic and collaborative working method that enables built, social, and research-based work on various scales.
• “Huts and Palaces from Berlin” comprises a practice that focuses on experimental architecture for urban living and lifestyles. The emphasis is on solutions for extreme or unique sites and building projects. The aim is to create active connections between interior and exterior spaces. They view buildings as open systems that are in constant dialogue with their physical and metaphysical surroundings. The designs are characterized by a reduction to the essentials in terms of spatial arrangements, technology, construction, and resources, as well as by building with wood.
• FAKT + Gustav Düsing is a collaboration between two young, research-based architecture firms based in Berlin. They share an experimental approach to spatial design, construction, and sustainability strategies. Both firms are active in the academic sphere as well as in the realization of experimental architectural projects. Their working method combines critical theory with architectural practice and aims to find new ways for architecture to respond to our current ecological and sociopolitical challenges.
• ZRS + Coopdisco develops architecture that uses resources responsibly and efficiently and serves its users in the long term. ZRS possesses particular research and construction expertise in the areas of building with clay, wood, and bamboo. Coopdisco is a cooperative of architects committed to urban development for the common good. Their goal is always to develop places that are used, needed, and preserved as common goods.