Democracy as Builder. Selected Buildings.

   

Description

On August 29, 2020 and January 6,2021 there were drastic attempts to storm the governmental buildings not only in Germany but also in the USA. At the latest since these incidents the correlation between democracy and architecture became evident. Especially in Germany, the discussion about the relationship between the form of government and its possible architectural representation has never vanished since the end of the Second World War; on the contrary. In the last two decades in particular, numerous contributions have appeared on the subject of architecture and democracy, suggesting that positions long considered immovable should once again be put to the test and reconsidered. This seminar will primarily revolve around the question of whether democracy can act as a builder, whether and how it manifests itself in architecture, or - to put it differently - what architectures look like that have been described as democratic. Tracing the genesis of different positions and argumentations we will focus on buildings in Bonn, Berlin and Karlsruhe, but also on government buildings and government quarters in other democratically constituted states within and outside Europe.

 

Module

Elective module
B.Sc. // from 3rd semester

Dates

On wednesdays, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Start: April 2022
ST 1 (1665|001)

Accompanying Content

You can download the corresponding lecture content for follow-up purposes on RWTHMoodle.