The new architectural culture of reuse – spolia and asseverations in contemporary architecture
International conference from January 31 to February 2, 2024, at the Department
2024/01/16
Against the backdrop of climate change, environmental pollution, and the depletion of natural resources, a new global architectural culture of reuse is emerging. Progressive architectural firms worldwide are experimenting with new practices of reusing, repurposing, and recycling old building components to save energy, reduce greenhouse gases, and avoid waste in construction.
Innovative approaches such as “Circular Building,” “Urban Mining,” and “Upcycling” entail nothing less than a radical transformation of today's construction industry and architectural culture, inevitably leading to new architectural expressions.
However, reuse is not only ecologically and energetically sustainable. The use of old building components also allows for the preservation of cultural heritage, history, and identity. Looking into architectural history reveals that the use of spolia (reused building components from other locations) and asseverations (building components recontextualized within the same building) was a commonplace practice in architectural culture for a long time, only to be somewhat forgotten in the course of modernity.
At the conference, leading international architects, cultural scientists, and art historians will address the theme of reuse in architecture from various perspectives.
Speakers
- Arne van de Capelle (Rotor)
- Lionel Devlieger (Rotor)
- Gabriela Dimitrova (University of Liechtenstein)
- Dirk Hebel (KIT)
- Andreas Hild (TUM)
- Hauke Horn (TUDa)
- Jan Jongert (Superuse)
- Marc Jordi/Susanne Keller (Jordi&Keller Architekten, Berlin)
- Christoph Kuhn (TUDa)
- Jonas Läufer/Conrad Risch (Baukreisel)
- Hans-Rudolf Meier (Bauhaus University Weimar)
- Johanna Meyer-Grohbrügge (TUDa)
- Eva Stricker (RPTU Kaiserslautern)
- Søren Nielsen (Vandkunsten)
- Julia Rüdiger (KU Linz)
- Annette Rudolph-Cleff (TUDa)
- Pinkish Shah (S+PS Architects)
- Daniel Stockhammer (University of Liechtenstein)
- Oliver Tessmann (TUDa)
TU Darmstadt
Department of Architecture
El-Lissitzky-Straße 1
Building L3 | 01
Max-Guther Lecture Hall
January 31 to February 2, 2024
Interested individuals are warmly welcome! Admission to the conference is free. For planning purposes, registration through the Department of Architectural Theory and Science's website is requested.
