WORKSHOP CLUSTER C – “BUILDING AT THE LIMIT”

On November 25, 2022, a one-day workshop was held at the Technical University of Munich, which focused on an introduction to actor-network theory and the limits of its applicability in network research in the history of civil engineering. It was open to all SPP members and was jointly organized by the subprojects Plank Trusses (D2), Historic Concrete Repairs (B2) and Physical Models in Civil Engineering (C2).

The GDR produced highly typified load-bearing structures based on standardised building elements, which were in turn combined in type buildings. The workshop will focus on the phenomenon of state-led building typification in East Germany, with a consideration of West German type building for contextualisation. In addition to an insight into materials, constructions and development mechanisms, the constructive side of building in the GDR will be addressed and its worthiness of preservation discussed, away from the classical history of architecture and urban development.

The workshop will take place from 29.-31 3. 2023 at the Bauhaus University Weimar. A one-day excursion on 31. 3. will explore selected type buildings.

The GDR produced highly typified load-bearing structures based on standardised building elements, which were in turn combined in type buildings. The workshop will focus on the phenomenon of state-led building typification in East Germany, with a consideration of West German type building for contextualisation. In addition to an insight into materials, constructions and development mechanisms, the constructive side of building in the GDR will be addressed and its worthiness of preservation discussed, away from the classical history of architecture and urban development.

The workshop will take place from 29.-31 3. 2023 at the Bauhaus University Weimar. A one-day excursion on 31. 3. will explore selected type buildings.

Weimar – Bad Blankenburg – Erfurt
In Weimar, the members of the subprojects DENKRAUM (D1) and Brett- und Bohlenbinder (D2), which are connected in the cluster D, met for a two-day workshop at the Bauhaus University. In lectures and discussions common questions and topics of the two subprojects were worked out, especially with regard to the current SPP annual topic Building at the Limit. In addition, excursions to interesting roof structures of high modernism in Weimar and the surrounding area were undertaken.

Dresden
On October 22, 2021, the Institute of Solid Structures of TU Dresden hosted a hybrid workshop on the topic of dealing with historic railroad bridges. The workshop, which was held with the participation of invited guests on site in Dresden and in the form of a parallel online conference, was aimed at the participants of the thematic cluster A (railroad bridges) of SPP 2255, which is composed of the two subprojects „Monuments in the Network “ (A1) and „Holistic Evaluation of Steel Railway Bridges“ (A2).

The “strategy and method laboratories” (SuMupLABs) are one of the central event formats to promote interdisciplinary exchange in the SPP 2255. They are explicitly aimed at the processors in the individual sub-projects of the SPP.
The SuMupLAB 2022 takes the participants to the former airfield Cottbus-Nord. The site, which was used by the military from 1933 to 2003, is currently undergoing forced expansion into a commercial location in the context of structural change in Lausitz. This raises crucial questions about the future authenticity of an ensemble of five aircraft hangars that are unique in Germany.

Überherrn, Ortsteil Felsberg, 22./23. September 2021
Die „Strategie- und Methodenlabore“ (SuMupLABs) sind eines der zentralen Veranstaltungsformate zur Förderung des interdisziplinären Austauschs im SPP 2255. Sie richten sich explizit an den Bearbeiterinnen und Bearbeiter in den einzelnen Teilprojekten des SPP.
Das erste SuMupLAB 2021 führte die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer in die ehem. Sendehalle von Radio Europe 1 im Saarland. Das 1954/55 errichtete Bauwerk steht exemplarisch für das erste Jahresthema des SPP 2255 – „Bauen am Limit“. Der lichtdurchflutete Bau wird von einer gut 80 m weit frei spannenden Hängeschale überdacht, in deren spannungsreicher Baugeschichte die Grenzen des technisch Beherrschbaren in dramatischer Weise offenbar wurden.

Im Forschungsschwerpunkt SPP 2255 „Kulturerbe Konstruktion“ der DFG befassen sich WissenschaftlerInnen der TU BA Freiberg und TU Braunschweig mit den Konstruktionen des VEB Metalleichtbau-kombinat (MLK). Ein Typenbauwerk des MLKs ist das Sporthalle KT60L.
Die Sporthalle der Freie Waldorfschule Magdeburg e.V. wurde Mitte 1970er Jahre erbaut und in den Jahren 2007 sowie 2010/11 saniert. Sie stellt wegen des innovativen Erhaltungsansatzes ein Vorbild für den allgemeinen und auch denkmalpflegerischen Umgang von Typenbauwerken der DDR dar.

The colloquium will report on ongoing research projects on concrete restoration. The focus will be on issues relating to the preservation of historical monuments.

Participants from the projects Mass Phenomenon Commercial Hall (C3), Steel and Metal Lightweight Construction in the GDR (C4), Monument Spatial Framework (D1) and Reallabor Cottbus – Development of Construction Methods in the GDR (D2) met in the city of Erfurt on 27 July 2022 for the workshop “Halls with Steel Structures on Site – Erfurt”.      
Dipl.-Ing. Volker Mund, managing director and civil engineer of the engineering office Bauen GmbH, was available to the participants as an expert on dealing with GDR buildings and as a discussion partner.