Lecture “Go back to nature” by the internationally renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and other guests as part of the event series > 100 years of Frei Otto <. An event organized by the Garage Campus and the City of Chemnitz on the topic of building culture on the way to the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.
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About the event series >100 years of Frei Otto<
FREI OTTO is one of those personalities who are generally associated less with his birthplace Chemnitz Siegmar and Saxony. We are taking his 100th birthday in the European Capital of Culture year as an opportunity to make this connection more visible – true to the Chemnitz Capital of Culture motto “C the Unseen”.
The City of Chemnitz and the Garage Campus are working with numerous partners and supporters to put together a multi-part program that builds on each other and consists of events, workshops, exhibitions, networking formats and specific projects. Three events are planned for the first half of 2024. The program will kick off in January 2024 with the internationally renowned Japanese architect KENGO KUMA.
With his buildings, Kengo Kuma is committed to the nature and tradition of Asia: “The essence of my work is the use of natural materials to create airy, open spaces filled with sunlight,” says Kengo Kuma, describing his approach. In his architecture, Kengo Kuma succeeds in effectively combining archaic materials, traditional Japanese architecture and innovative technologies.
In addition to sustainable design and progressive thinking, Kengo Kuma and Frei Otto shared the same task at different times: planning an Olympic stadium. Together with Günther Benesch, who grew up in Chemnitz, Frei Otto planned the stadium for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Kengo Kuma, on the other hand, was allowed to design the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo 2020 in the spirit of “humanity, nature and intimacy”, according to his own statement.
On Friday, 19 January 2024, Kengo Kuma will give a public lecture* on his work and principles in the large lecture hall at Chemnitz University of Technology under the title “Back to Nature”.
Before and after the lecture, we look forward to short contributions from MICHAEL STÖTZER, Mayor for Urban Development and Building of the City of Chemnitz, BELINDA RUKSCHCIO, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Federal Foundation of Baukultur, TONIA SCHMITZ, Scientific Coordinator for projects as part of the “New European Bauhaus” initiative and Sustainability Lead at the Bauhaus University Weimar, and the Dresden architect and university lecturer Prof. TOBIAS MAISCH. The evening will be moderated by DIRK DOBIÉY, co-founder of Age of Artists and member of the Garage Campus core team.
* Kengo Kuma will speak in English, all other contributions will be held in German.
About the protagonists of the evening
KENGO KUMA proposes an architecture that opens up new relationships between nature, technology and people. Kengo Kuma (1954), born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, is recognised as one of Japan’s most important and significant contemporary architects. He founded Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA) in 1990 and is currently a university professor and professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, having taught at Keio University and the University of Tokyo. KKAA’s projects are currently being realised in more than 40 countries. “His poetics categorises materials according to their emotional capabilities and connects them with the intrinsic constructive properties and teachings of Japanese tradition. By “formally listening” to the materials, Kuma has been engaged for years in a serious critique of what he calls the “method of concrete”, with a desire to find an alternative to the use of this material that dominates the world.” floornature.de
Michael Stötzer has been Mayor of the City of Chemnitz since 2015 and heads the Department of Urban Development and Construction. Since 2011, Michael Stötzer has been Head of the Building Management and Construction Department. Prior to this, he had been Head of the Building Construction Office since 2009, where he had been Head of Department and Deputy Head of Office since 2007. Michael Stötzer, who graduated in architecture with a degree in engineering, worked in various architectural firms in Chemnitz until 2007.
Belinda Rukschcio has been Deputy Chairwoman of the Executive Board of the Federal Foundation of Baukultur since 1 May 2023. Born in Vienna, she was most recently Managing Director of Werkraum Bregenzerwald. From 2016 to 2020, she was responsible at the Federal Foundation for the preparation of the Baukultur reports 2018/19 “Heritage, Inventory, Future” and 2020/21 “Public Spaces”. Belinda Rukschcio studied architecture at the Vienna University of Technology and completed her management studies at the German Academy of Management in Berlin. As a research assistant, she taught at the TU Vienna, the Bauhaus University Weimar and the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg. Other professional positions include overall coordination of the Austria Pavilion at the 2008 Architecture Biennale in Venice and project management for the House of Architecture in Graz.
Tonia Schmitz develops and coordinates projects and activities for the New European Bauhaus at local, regional and international level at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. She is committed to contributing to a sustainable, inclusive and beautiful future for our European regions. She has been Sustainability Lead at the Bauhaus University Weimar since October 2023.
Tobias Maisch is Professor of Architecture at the International University of Applied Sciences in Dresden. Together with his partner Inga Sachs, he also runs the firm FRIDA Architekten in Dresden. The two architects focus on cultural, social and aesthetic value retention through comprehensive sustainable construction that goes beyond energy issues. Tobias Maisch studied at the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences and the TU Dresden. After graduating in 2015, he worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Building Construction and Design and the Chair of Residential Buildings and Design at TU Dresden. He also worked in various national and international architecture firms. Tobias Maisch is a board member of Bauforum Dresden and is involved in various social projects. Since 2016, he has been researching vernacular design strategies and glue- and metal-free timber
Dirk Dobiéy is co-founder of the research and consulting company Age of Artists. The company advises various ministries, local authorities, research and educational institutions as well as numerous companies. From 2004 to 2014, the business economist held various global management positions in middle management at SAP. Dirk Dobiéy is a member of the advisory board of ‘In Place of War’ Ireland, a member of the steering committee for the Garage Campus intervention area of the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 and a member of the cultural advisory board of Landgestalten e.V. in Nossen.
