The Repair and Reuse of Existing Buildings
The differentiation of existing buildings between those that should be retained and those without value that are replaced at will is outdated. Given the acceleration in resource consumption since industrialisation and the resulting climate change, the resolute decarbonisation of architectural practice is essential. In other words, existing buildings are basically worth retaining and should only be replaced in exceptional – and justifiable – cases. As a result, repair and transformation are becoming key aspects of contemporary architectural practice and this is leading to a differentiated form of architectural expression: a contemporary form of dialogue vis-à-vis the existing, the subtracted and the newly inserted.
Case Study Alte WU
Current developments at the Alte WU raise questions. As of March 2024, the plan is to demolish the Universitätszentrum Althangrund to create space for a new building that, in turn, will also be a university campus. Realised in several phases starting in 1978, the complex existing ensemble stands on a transfer slab that spans the tracks of Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof and forms a major structure that, from today’s perspective, is problematic in both urban and typological terms.
The criticism of the building as a scaleless barrier within the rich late-19th century urban fabric should be taken seriously. But demolition is not a must. On the contrary: the differentiated refurbishment or transformation of the existing are possible. How can the typological aspects of the late-19th century city, whose long-term benefits are now recognised, be incorporated into the major structure?
The Task
The objectives of the transformation of the major 1970s structure that has aged poorly include parcelling, a dialogue involving facades and streetscapes and open-use spatial structures. The Alte WU will be divided up into 20 plots on the basis of a structural analysis of the existing complex, overlaid with the scale of the surrounding late-19th century city. The resulting urban components will be individually developed by 20 students as communicating elements of a new urban ensemble on Althangrund, in which the 20 individual projects form a new neighbourhood that is as diverse as it is open to dialogue and full of rich relationships.
Methods:
From the starting point of the strategy of a reparative transformation of the existing urban and built structures, the spatial potential of these structures and the traces of time will be discursively investigated and presented to all in the context of the issue of the decarbonisation of building and the public realm. Concepts will be developed on the basis of a precise analysis of existing urban morphologies and building typologies and the reading and description of significant elements and traces in the urban realm and its existing fabric.
– Development of action-oriented documentation of a new practice of sustainable repair strategies for existing urban spaces and buildings.
– The existing urban realm and its sequences of external spaces, infrastructure and buildings and the relationship between public and private spaces will be addressed in conceptual and working models.
– The existing built structure, the loadbearing structure of the shell of the existing complex and the transfer slab above the railway tracks will be analysed with the help of two and three-dimensional analytical drawings and structural models.
Lecturers:
Wilfried Kuehn
Ulrich Huhs
Alexander Garber
Peter Bauer
further information:
Kick-Off: Fri, October 4th 2024, 10.00
Meetings every Friday 10:00 – 18:00.