Conference “Steel on New Paths”

Steel on new paths: Historical discourses of innovation, structural engineering practices, and historic preservation challenges of the high modern age

In high modernism, steel, along with reinforced concrete, was not only a building material whose material properties made it possible to realize architectural visions, structural innovations or infrastructural systems that had previously been considered impossible. In this context, the material was also connoted with a symbolism that made it an integral part of the contemporary promise of progress across all systems.

The increasing availability of this material, fueled both by technological innovations and a complex scientific network, and determined by political and economic conditions, had as a consequence the professionalization and specialization that emerged in companies, associations and institutions, like the diversification of products. Today, a large number of the steely – often experimentally developed – relics of past progress narratives have lost their original function and are in a critical state of preservation. Reflection on their significance in the history of construction, architecture, and building technology seems urgently needed, and appropriate preservation approaches must be developed.

The conference will focus on steel as a building material in high modernism. In this context, steel structures and the techniques and practices associated with them will be analyzed. The social, economic and cultural as well as the scientific and engineering conditions of development and the networks of actors involved will be examined: planning, production and construction processes, standardization and typification, unique and serial products, the initiation of new material and construction (sub)developments as well as the committees and institutions that organized these developments.

A second focus of the considerations is on the associated historic preservation aspects. In the sense of an inventory, the aim is to characterize more precisely the monument or source value of certain buildings or also building types made of steel in high modernism. In addition, can fundamental innovation and/or production developments be identified that can be discussed or should be taken into account when considering the value of objects? Furthermore, strategies for the preservation, renovation or upgrading of such buildings can be presented. However, this should not be so much a matter of reporting on the experience of restoration measures, but rather of an overarching discussion, for example, of typical deficiencies that were perhaps already part of the design during the construction period, but which today cause specific problems under current conditions of use.

picture credit: Hoesch Aktiengesellschaft Dortmund, Products of our plants and companies, 1965: Montanhistorisches Dokumentationszentrum  (montan.dok) beim Deutschen Bergbau-Museum  Bochum/Bergbau-Archiv (BBA) FP 535/1

Conference Schedule

20.04.2023 – Day 1: Building with steel in East and West. Innovative prefabricated houses and constructive solutions

14:00-14:10 Welcome from Reinhold Bauer (Stuttgart)

14:10-16:10 Panel I (Chair: Reinhold Bauer)

14:10-14:40 Thomas Schuetz (Stuttgart) „Innovation systems and innovation cultures in the German steel industry“

14:40-15:10 Silke Haps (Bochum) “Steel (composite) prefabricated houses by the Hoesch and Krupp companies – an experiment in construction in high modernity?”

15:10-15:40 Tobias Nolteklocke (Wuppertal) “New Construction Materials, Chemical Industry and Historical Materials Research”

15:40-16:30 Coffee break

16:30 – 17:30 Panel II (Chair: Torsten Meyer (Bochum))

16:30-17:00 Richard Blum (Weimar) “Innovative Adaptation – Space Frames Made of Steel in the GDR”.

17:00-17:30 Benjamin Schmid (Innsbruck) “The trial of strength between nuclear fission and steel cell composite construction / model tests for containment vessels of nuclear power plants in the GDR”.

18:00-19:30 Evening lecture: Isolde Parussel (Dortmund) and Philipp Schäle (Emishalden (Rot an der Rot)): “How do you relocate a prefabricated house? Translocation of a Hoesch steel house – a workshop report.”

 

21.04.2023 – Day 2: A world of steel. Explore, Evaluate, Preserve

09:30-10:30 Introductory lecture (Chair: Helmut Maier (Wuppertal)) Joachim Schwarte (Stuttgart) “A World of Steel – From Innovation to Resource”.

10:30-11:00 Coffee break

11:00-13:00 (Chair: Simon Paulus (Stuttgart))

11:00-11:30 Anke Fissabre & Evelin Rottke (Aachen) “Hidden Steel Constructions in Modernist Sacred Buildings”.

11:30-12:00 Annkathrin Heinrich (Braunschweig) “Approaches for a monument conservation assessment of type steel buildings of the GDR”.

12:00-12:30 Michael Hascher, Sabine Kuban and Júlia Tauber (Esslingen) “Challenges of preservation in high modern (steel) constructions”.

12:30-13:00 Closing discussion (Ltg: Thomas Schuetz)

13:00 Goodbye by Thomas Schuetz

The conference will take place on 20 and 21 April 2023 at the Baden-Württembergische Landesbibliothek (Konrad-Adenauer-Straße 10, 70173 Stuttgart). Please note that due to construction work, the easiest way to access the conference venue is via the entrance in Konrad-Adenauer-Straße.

Registration is not necessary for participation.

Further Veranstaltung Aktivitäten