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INTRODUCTION
OLD & NEW
selection of projects, which is heterogeneous in every behemoth and in so doing, triggered the enhancement respect ; the majority is the work of small offices ; many of the surrounding harbor district [p. 156]. The reanimated of them with very limited budgets. torso of the Kassel Zeughaus is a good example of the fact that sometimes even belated restoration projects, which THE PROJECTS have only been realized after several failed attempts, — eventually achieve a particularly convincing result [p. 28]. The chief criterion for selecting the projects in this book The library in Schweinfurt [p. 172] is not the only design was their architectural quality, and thus also their origi- to convey the pleasure of gaining aesthetic capital from nality. In this respect, a successful and multifaceted con- the well calculated confrontation between old and new. nection to “place” was one consideration, the conceptual The affinity of such projects to modern art is obvious : maturity of the treatment of the existing fabric anoth- Historical relics are inserted in new buildings like aser. In light of these rather abstract criteria, it is surpris- semblages and there is a tangible enthusiasm for collage, ing that in the end, a common theme can be discerned in deconstruction, and spatial layering. the final project selection, without it having played a role On the other hand, the result need not always be a work in reaching a decision : A striking number of the build- of art. Those projects governed first and foremost by moings have a sociopolitical background ; the new building tives of practical use and endowed with limited funds is, in this case, an expression of the I de Botton, Alain : The Architecture of admittedly appear less often in archiactive re-cultivation of places that Happiness, New York 2006, p. 208. tectural magazines, but they make II The Romanesque building visible today have in the meantime depreciated was up the bulk of construction activity : completed in 1065. or become fallow. It is an expres- III In the last two decades, the percentages extensions to industrial buildings, continuously shifted toward working with sion of reurbanization. In the Dutch have exhibition halls, schools and, not to existing buildings—for instance in Germany, town of Enschede, the adaptive re- new-built construction still dominated in 1997 be forgotten, the broad field of housa share of 53.7% as compared to 46.3% for use of a factory site destroyed by an with ing in existing buildings. The examconstruction work in existing buildings, and explosion a few years earlier has giv- the ratio has continually shifted since then : in ples of Heuried residential complex in residential construction, for instance, en the entire district a new identity 2007 in Zurich [p. 84] and Blumen Primary the measures taken in existing buildings already comprised 74% of all construction work. Source : School in Berlin [ p. 98 ] show that of[ p. 42 ]. In Łódź, Tallinn, and Wildau in DIW ( ed. ) : Strukturdaten zur Produktion und ten a technically simple, but carefulBrandenburg, the immense shells of Beschäftigung im Baugewerbe. Berlin 2007. and : buildings whose industrial use had Nachhaltiges Bauen im Bestand, workshop doc- ly implemented modification of the of the Federal Ministry of Education building envelope can give the whole become obsolete have once again, umentation and Research, Berlin 2002. in a new guise, become part of dai- IV St. Paul’s church was one of the first build- a completely different character. ings in Frankfurt to be rebuilt after the Second With two modern classics, the Stutly life. They now serve educational, World War, under the direction of the architect tgart K II building [p. 108] and the forresidential, or tourism purposes and Rudolf Schwarz. The architect of the reconstruction was likewise symbolize the newly found VPaul Baumgarten, mer US consulate in Frankfurt [p. 116], born in Tilsit in 1900. self-confidence of post-communist VI Bernd and Hilla Becher, founders of the the architects have consciously forBecher school, ” drove with their VW van societies at the end of a transforma- “through gone setting their own accents and Europe in those days and took photos, tion process lasting two decades. An from Wales to northern France, of water towers, have concentrated entirely on refurblast furnaces, and mining pitheads, the majority outstanding example in every rebishing the technical equipment. of which have since disappeared. spect is Lesezeichen Salbke, because VII References incl. Los, Sergio: Scarpa, Cologne In the Franconian city of Würzburg, it demonstrates how the maximum 2009. several hundred prefinished alumiVIII Döllgast, who had mainly built for the effect can be achieved with mininum sheets, supported by a simple church authorities since the 1920s, planned the reconstruction of numerous landmarks that mum effort [p. 88]. steel substructure, achieve a strikhad been damaged in the war, most notably in ing effect from a distance as the The U-boat bunker constructed by Munich. The “ creative conservation ” of the Alte Pinakothek, which had been damaged by a the occupying German navy in Saint- bomb hit, is amongst his best-known works. Cf. shiny envelope of a power plant [p. 18]. Nazaire stood empty and useless at TU München ( ed. ) : Hans Döllgast 1891–1974, Working with existing buildings is 1987. the harbor for decades: nothing other Munich not a discipline for those lacking in IX References incl. Zahner, Walter : Bauherr than a huge barrier that blocked the Kirche—Der Architekt Karljosef Schattner, self-confidence. Those who believe Munich 2009 ; Pehnt, Wolfgang : Karljosef view toward the sea and constant- Schattner—ein that treating the original with reArchitekt aus Eichstätt, ly reminded people of the destruc- Ostfildern 1988/1999. spect prevents architects from creatmuch publicized project is, for example, the tion of the town in the Second World XHighALine ing designs with an urban presence in Park in New York, an old elevated railWar. This only changed when a Ber- road track in Chelsea that has been converted by the existing fabric might well change architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro and landlin architectural firm introduced cul- the their minds after seeing Würzburg scape architects Field Operations into a city park. tural uses into part of the concrete Further information under: www.thehighline.org cogeneration plant.
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