In this workshop, students will learn and practice argumentation and writing skills with the focus on architecture. The topics include: How to pose a research question and how to develop the argument? What is a research method? How to structure a paper or presentation? How to conduct library, digital database and archival research? How to properly cite sources and caption images? How to find and maintain an appropriate writing style?

 

The class will meet biweekly and will consist of a theoretical and practical parts. In the course of the semester, each student will work on her or his paper: either a Studienarbeit or another paper of the student’s choice in English or German.

 

Each student is expected to participate in all sessions, and perform assigned reading, writing, and editing assignments.

 

It is possible to write a Studienarbeit in connection to this class.

 

All readings will be provided on Moodle in English and German.

 

Schreibworkshop Architektur

In diesem Workshop lernen und üben die Studierenden Argumentations- und Schreibkompetenzen mit dem Fokus auf Architektur. Zu den Themen gehören: Wie stellt man eine Forschungsfrage und entwickelt ein Argument? Was ist die Forschungsmethode? Wie strukturiert man einen Aufsatz oder eine Präsentation? Wie recherchiert man in Bibliotheken, Online-Datenbanken, und Archiven? Wie werden Quellen richtig zitiert und Bilder beschriftet? Wie findet und beherrscht man einen angemessenen Schreibstil?

 

Der Kurs findet zweiwöchentlich statt und besteht aus einem theoretischen und einem praktischen Teil. Im Laufe des Semesters arbeiten alle Studierenden an ihrem eigenen Text: entweder an der Studienarbeit oder an einer anderen Arbeit ihrer Wahl auf Englisch oder Deutsch.

 

Von allen Studierenden wird erwartet, dass sie an allen Sitzungen teilnehmen und die zugewiesenen Lese-, Schreib- und Bearbeitungsaufgaben erfüllen.

 

Es ist möglich, eine Studienarbeit im Zusammenhang mit diesem Kurs zu schreiben.

 

Alle Lektüren werden auf Moodle in Englisch und Deutsch zur Verfügung gestellt.


Architecture’s scales are not limited to buildings, as architecture’s effects are not limited to structure or aesthetics. Rather, the impacts and effects of built environments range from molecular particles to global logistics of extraction, from human bodies constructing and maintaining it to regional effects of demographic shifts or cultural appropriations. In this seminar, we will approach these impacts and effects by looking at different scales of modern and contemporary society. We will discuss both the emergence and the currently unfolding crisis of the established structures of globalization, solidified by economy and shattered by wars and mass displacement. To do so, we will examine six case studies ranging from community to the colony to transnational networks.

The seminar will be taught in collaboration with the Prof. Dr. Anna-Maria Meister, the chair of Architecture Theory, KIT. Meeting together biweekly in person and online, we will discuss a text by a leading contemporary scholar or theorist of architecture, followed by an evening lecture and discussion session with the author of this text.

The language of reading and discussion is English.

All students will be required to complete weekly readings and reading responses, participate in discussion, and lead (as a part of a group) one of the sessions. There are no final papers or projects and no final examination.

It is not possible to write a Studienarbeit in connection to this seminar.


State-socialist countries of the twentieth century are notorious for their industry-based approach to urbanism, which often resulted in the emergence of hyper-functionalist, faceless, inhumane living and working environments. What remains less known is that socialist architects were well-aware of the ecological and social problems generated by this approach, and tried to mitigate them relying on the findings of climate science, geography, and sociology, among other sciences of nature and society. Today, when European architects face similar problems associated with industrialized construction, they could draw lessons, in both positive and negative sense—as both a hope and a warning—from the experience of their socialist predecessors. Thus, examining the history of twentieth-century state-socialist architecture, we will ask such questions as: How are architects to work with the findings of climate science without turning into technocrats? What politics lie behind the seemingly objective study of nature and climate? Which family and social models does sociological research in architecture transmit, and how does it tacitly achieve this?

LESS:MONOTONY. Vielfalt im Plattenbau

Das äußere Erscheinungsbild von Plattenbauten in der DDR wird häufig mit Monotonie assoziiert. In diesem Seminar werden wir uns kritisch mit dieser Auffassung auseinandersetzen und die Form- und Fassadengestaltung im industriellen Wohnungsbau der DDR näher beleuchten.

Wir betrachten die Entwicklungen im industriellen Wohnungsbau der DDR beginnend in den fünfziger Jahren bis in die späten achtziger Jahre des letzten Jahrhunderts. Verknüpfungen zu den Vorreitern des Neuen Bauens und zum globalen Kontext sollen in diesem Zusammenhang auch hergestellt werden. Im Mittelpunkt der Diskussion steht die Frage welche Gestaltungsgrundsätze den industriellen Wohnungsbau der DDR geprägt haben. Analysiert wird die Fragestellung anhand von konstruktiven und gestalterischen Entscheidungen im industriellen Wohnungsbau der DDR sowie ideologischen und wirtschaftlich Faktoren welche die Debatte geformt haben. Dabei soll der Anspruch an die Formensprache untersucht werden unter den Umständen einer herrschenden Material- und Ressourcenknappheit.

Prüfungsleistungen: Während des Semesters wird jede/r Studierende im Rahmen einer Gruppenarbeit einmalig einen Vortrag erarbeiten und präsentieren. Abgestimmt auf die Referatsthemen, wird wöchentlich eine Lektüre zur Vorbereitung auf das Seminar gelesen. Referat und Lektüre bilden die Grundlage für die anschließende Diskussion innerhalb des Seminars. Abschließend entsteht ein Reader mit kurzen Einzelbeiträgen jeder/s Studierenden.


The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo is a city shaped by a mix of Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian, and Yugoslav traditions. Founded by the Ottomans in the mid-15th century, it was occupied by Austro-Hungary in the late 19th century, and became a part of Yugoslavia in the aftermath of the First World War. It has been a space of co-existence and exchange between the Muslim and the Christian worlds, but has also been a space of violent ethnic conflict, most recently, during the Bosnian War and the siege of Sarajevo in 1992-1996. In the course of study trip and the accompanying seminar we will examine how different identities co-exist and conflict in a city, and think about the consequences of war and the paths towards post-conflict reconstruction and regeneration in a city. We will also make a day-trip to nearby Mostar. Our additional focus will be Yugoslav socialist architecture: we will discuss its progressive, internationalist ambitions, and the reasons of its failure to achieve them. Both the trip and the seminar will be conducted in collaboration with the Department of Architecture at the International University of Sarajevo: we will have joint tours, lectures, and discussion sessions with Prof. Dr. Alma Hudovic-Kljuno and Prof. Dr. Mejrema Zatric and their students.

 

Passive knowledge of English (reading and understanding of spoken speech) is required; active knowledge of English is preferred.

 

All costs of the trip will be covered for student participants including transportation and lodging.


Bezugnehmend auf Franz Hessel (Spazieren in Berlin) und Walter Benjamin (Berliner Kindheit im 19.Jahrhundert, Moskau, Marseille, Weimar, San Gimignano sowie  Die Wiederkehr des Flaneurs) wollen wir gemeinsam Kassel erkunden. In der Exkursionswoche wird jede/r Teilnehmer/in eine Stadtführung vorbereiten und leiten. Pflichtlektüre vor der Teilnahme sind die Texte von Franz Hessel, Walter Benjamin und Lucius Burckhardt (Spaziergangswissenschaften).


Architects know that built form and financing are mutually dependent. Materials, labor, and land must always be paid for somehow-- and increased costs can radically alter design decisions. At the same time, architectural interventions can transform property relations as well as the value of land and labor. The relationship between architecture and money, therefore, remains unstable. This seminar in architectural history invites students to analyze the roles that architecture has played in the creation of value, the generation of wealth, and the consolidation of global financial systems. Together, we will discuss how specific typologies and aesthetics cultivated in the North African king- dom of Mali in the 14th century, the Southern European city of Florence in the 15th century, the North American plantations of the 19th century, and the financial centers of Southeast Asia in the early 21st century have shaped the flow of gold, silver, dollars, and other currencies.