| Project Title | Reconstruction Reconsidered – DAAD Visiting Professorship with Dr. Igor Demchenko |
| Project Description |
The research and teaching project “Reconstruction Reconsidered” challenges the new-construction paradigm that dominates architectural education and instead investigates the theory and practice of reconstruction. In German historiography, heritage preservation is often treated primarily as an art-historical theory or as a material-scientific field of building research. In contrast, in the U.S. academic context—for example at Columbia University—a critical heritage theory (“critical turn”) has emerged in recent years, addressing reconstruction practices that go beyond mere façade preservation. Against this background, and in light of sustainability challenges such as climate change and demographic transformation, the project adopts this critical turn to reassess reconstruction within an architectural faculty setting. It seeks to critically evaluate, theorize, and apply reconstruction as an architectural practice, questioning the dominance of new construction as the guiding principle of design. If architectural design is increasingly understood as a societal responsibility of rebuilding rather than building anew, architecture must be rethought and researched through a different lens. Within the framework of seminars and workshops, Dr. Igor Demchenko engages with students in historical and methodological discussions on reconstruction and restoration practices from the 1920s to the 1980s, exploring their historical grounding and critical implications for contemporary design thinking. |
| Coordination | TU Darmstadt – Department of Architectural Theory and Science |
| Project Duration | April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022 |
| Funding | German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) |
| Project Website | https://www.architektur.tu-darmstadt.de/atw/architekturtheorie_und_wissenschaft/ |
Architektur
