Space in social context

TEXT BY Prof. Robert Thum Head of Department

Architects are just as committed to the social mandate of building culture as they are to the further development of architectural design using current scientific knowledge and technical developments. Against the backdrop of a now hundred-year tradition of education in architecture and construction in Trier, the Faculty of Architecture has combined new content with accepted fundamentals in its programmes and has practised this with high standards of quality to this day. In the process, interdisciplinary elements from the all areas of design are combined with the complex course content of the subject architecture. With the planned move to the inner-city Campus of Art and Design in the coming years, the Faculty of Architecture is returning to its beginnings. This is where the teaching of architecture began at the Trier School of Arts and Crafts, which was founded in 1912. Heinrich Tessenow, an impor tant, internationally recognised architect, was a teacher at this school for a time. The immediate predecessor institution of the University of Applied Sciences, founded in 1972, was the engineering school. The study of architecture was embedded in a polytechnic, engineering context. Fifteen years ago, the detachment of the teaching of architecture from this primarily technically oriented environment led, on one hand, back to its roots and, on the other, signalled a paradigm shift. Today, architecture as a design-technical discipline is integrated into the multifaceted artistic context of the Design Department.

tektur als gestalterisch-technische Disziplin eingebunden in den vielfältigen künstlerischen Kontext des Fachbereichs Gestaltung. Mit Neuberufungen im Bereich »Zirkuläres Bauen« und der praxisorientierten Forschung am Holzkompetenzzentrum wird die Fachrichtung Architektur auch überregional wahrgenommen. Das im Jahr 2010 gegründete Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Holz der Hochschule Trier verbindet Tradition und neueste Technologie im Holzbau. Neben der Aufgabe der Lehre in der Fachrichtung Architektur, welche den Studierenden eine fachliche Grundkompetenz in Planung und Konstruktion von Holz- und Holzmischbauweisen vermittelt, werden verschiedene Forschungsschwerpunkte verfolgt. Die Fachrichtung findet große Resonanz bei Bewerber*innen, was sich an außerordentlich hohen Studierendenzahlen ablesen lässt. Damit sind die Grundlagen für eine zukunftsfähigen Weiterentwicklung der Architekturlehre und der Forschung am Campus Gestaltung geschaffen. Durch die Schwerpunktsetzung auf das nachhaltige, ressourcenschonende Bauen und das Bauen im Bestand stellt sich die Fachrichtung Architektur den großen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit.

With new appointments in the field of “circular building ” and the practice-oriented research at the Wood Competence Centre, the Faculty of Architecture is also recognized beyond the region. The wood teaching and research area at Trier University of Applied Sciences, founded in 2010, combines tradition and the latest technology in wood construction. In addition to the task of teaching in the field of architecture, which provides students with a basic technical competence in the planning and construction of timber and mixed timber construction methods, various research focuses are pursued.

The subject is very popular with applicants, which is reflected in the extraordinarily high number of students. This lays the foundations for the future-oriented development of architectural teaching and research at the Campus of Art and Design. By focussing on sustainable, resource-saving construction and building in existing contexts, the architecture department is facing up to the great social challenges of our time.

Skulptur aus Ziegeln und Textilbeton.

Modelle. Architectural models.

Archiv Architektur / Hochschule Trier sculpture made of bricks and textile concrete.

Hagemeister