Reproductive Design
New buildings do not always have to be invented, but can use architectural references to generate an appropriate response for the city. The exhibition “Reproductive Design” at the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences shows that this can be done without pointing the finger at historical events. Students play through the design principle using the example of gaps in Stuttgart. The show was created in cooperation with the citizens' initiative "Aufbruch Stuttgart".
How much history can and how much must be represented in an architectural design? The creators of “Reproductive Design” have a clear stance on this: With their design principle, they first of all commit to everything that has existed in the history of architecture, whether built or just remained on paper. In the firm conviction that they do not always have to invent something new and thus always have to start from scratch (and do not want to), they use concrete architectural references in order to present them again elsewhere. The confrontation is guided by the precise, as literal as possible appropriation of the existing situation in order to learn from it.
The concept of "reproductive design" - developed in 2014 by the architects Georg Ebbing, Moritz Henkel, Philipp Rentschler and Ulrich von Ey - includes both a historical and progressive-productive dimension. It is a constant process of gentle renewal, the resumption and re-construction of traditions with a contemporary aspiration. The basis for the drafts presented is the manifesto formulated in 2014 with its eight theses, which can also be taken away from the exhibition in printed form.
The exhibition in the room gallery is divided into two areas: The first is dedicated to five gaps in Stuttgart, for which students designed possible cityscapes during a semester using different references, such as the Kaufhof area (Bad Cannstatt), the area of the Neckar-Realschule or the parking lot next to the House of Business Baden-Württemberg. A "House of Music" was also designed for the Square of German Unity near the Liederhalle. For this purpose, local references from Paul Bonatz, Richard Döcker or Rolf Gutbrod were used. The aim of the designs was to strengthen the selected locations and to give them an unmistakable identity. The second exhibition area shows a selection of works of reproductive design from 2014 to 2022, which were created in different constellations with other universities in teaching. In a "PAIRfect game" in the gallery premises, significant reference relationships can also be uncovered and discovered in a playful way.