CLIENT
LANDESBETRIEB VERMÖGEN UND BAU BADEN WÜRTTEMBERG

LOCATION
CENTRE FOR ISLAMIC THEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF TÜBINGEN (D)

MATERIALS
FABRIC, ARTIFICIAL STONE, MIRRORS

MEASUREMENTS
1 X 1 X 7 M

IMPLEMENTATION COSTS
EUR 90,000.00

At the University of Tübingen’s Centre for Islamic Theology the KISWA PERISCOPE will provide a location where science and faith can be combined, allowing the themes of  covering and revealing to coexist.

A strip of obsolete Kiswa, the material of the holy Kaaba from Mecca, is presented in the library. A periscope stele in the library’s inner courtyard allows the textile and also the library activities in front of it to be observed from the plateau.

The project is currently being implemented and is due to be completed in 2022.

CLIENT
FÖRDERVEREIN SCHLOSS BEDHEIM

LOCATION
BEDHEIM CASTLE, BEDHEIM

PROJECT TYPE
NEW BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION COSTS, COST GROUPS 200 – 800
EUR 300,000.00

FUNDING
IBA-THÜRINGEN
THURINGIA MINISTRY OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND AGRICULTURE

GFA
400 M²

USABLE SPACE 
204 M²

PERFORMANCE
PERFORMANCE STAGES 1 – 9

Bedheim Castle is participating in the International Building Exhibition Thüringen. One of its first implemented projects is the “New Shed” (Neue Remise) in the agricultural yard of the castle facility. With this wooden building, the architects and client demonstrate how simple means and the self-construction of most elements can achieve architectural quality in rural areas.

The elongated volume fills an important gap in the preservation-listed ensemble. The outwardly dark, reserved building surprises with very bright, original interior spaces. Building measures largely did without purchased building elements, as even the windows were constructed by the project participants. The measure demonstrates the advantages of timber construction and formulates a counter-position to the technological, highly automated wooden building currently propagated elsewhere. The uses of the Neue Remise are similar to those in an alpine lodge, just without the mountains. In addition to sleeping quarters and a guest room, there is a spacious kitchen, which also doubles as a common room or even an exhibition space. Sanitary facilities and storage space for the garden café supplement the programme.

The new building, which was completed in 2018, thereby assumes a key role at this complex location, since it has a leverage effect: it achieves many things that were hitherto unfeasible, all in a simpler, warmer, more economical and ecological manner.

HOSTS
ANIKA GRÜNDER AND FLORIAN KIRFEL

LOCATION
BEDHEIM CASTLE

EVENT FORMAT
CONFERENCE SINCE 2015

The Bedheim Fireside Talks “Über Land.Bau.Kunst” have been held regularly since 2015 and address a current theme concerning the overriding fields of architectural and artistic qualities in rural areas.

The format was founded and organised by Anika Gründer, Florian Kirfel, Nikola Mayer and Erik van der Werf. It is held in collaboration with and with financial support from the IBA Tühringen.

We have been inviting participants to the Bedheim Fireside Talks since 2015, at the end of October, when the late summer has not quite past, but the fireside is already an appealing feature. 20 to 30 guests interested in building culture in its widest sense convene at Bedheim Castle for a weekend to discuss a specific theme, breathe the fresh rural air, peel potatoes and enjoy leisurely meals together.

The guests are a selection of renowned architects, political decision-makers, journalists, writers and long-standing friends of Bedheim Castle.

FIRST FIRESIDE TALK_ October 23–24, 2015
Provincial architectural production

SECOND FIRESIDE TALK_ October 21–22, 2016
HANDS ON _ Building for yourself. Between DIY-store charm and artistic masterpieces

THIRD FIRESIDE TALK_ October 5, 2018
U-TURN, I-TURN, URBAN EXODUS – Initiatives for art, building and extending in rural areas

CLIENT
GOETHE INSTITUTE 

LOCATION
GOETHE INSTITUTE, VILLA KAMOGAWA, KYOTO (J)

YEAR AND DURATION
MAY – JULY 2013

The first result of our three-month scholarship at the artists’ residence of the Goethe Institute in Kyoto was the exhibition “Wandering Through Japan’s Used Architecture” at the Villa Kamogawa, including an accompanying lecture. A net made of the currently booming hygiene masks became the carrier of the country’s architectural (and non-architectural) qualities. We also present our collection of converted and used architecture, archived in bento boxes.

Inspired by Terunobu Fujimori’s Architecture Detectives League and the ROJO Kansatsu Gakkai (Street Observation Society), and influenced by Arata Isozaki’s theoretical considerations on “Japan-ness” in architecture, we began our journey through Japan’s used architecture in April 2013. We continuously documented our observations with photographs and in writing, before cataloguing them at a later date. In parallel with our own observations, we discussed our questions in personal conversations with architects, institutions and scientists.

TEACHING FORMAT
OWN FORMAT AT THE BAUHAUS-UNIVERSITÄT WEIMAR

LOCATION
BEDHEIM CASTLE

TARGET GROUP
BACHELOR AND MASTER STUDENTS

TEACHERS
ANIKA GRÜNDER AND FLORIAN KIRFEL

Since 2012, we have offered an annual two-week block seminar in the summer for Architecture students at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
We developed the concept and organisation of the building workshop ourselves. The seminar is organised under the auspices of the Chair for Building History and Monument Preservation led by Prof. Hans-Rudolf Meier.

The aim of the workshop is to combine teaching, research and practice. Students learn at the building workshop through the practical application of building structures and materials, while building on existing structures and working with preservation regulations. The techniques used are both historical and contemporary. The restorers’ approach can also be the content, such as the strengthening of the existing building fabric. Additional learning content includes working autonomously on a building site, self-organisation and teamwork. Furthermore, we aim to encourage a competent physical approach to handling monuments, as well as a confident approach to designing tasks in the field of monument preservation, as well as building on existing structures.
The individual working stages are explained in their larger architectural and structural contexts. This takes place directly at the building site, on tours through the castle and at lectures at the end of the working day. Artisans and producers of building materials provide additional support.