„ ... building with stones you have“

Winfried Sziegoleit is one of the most important contemporary architects of Leipzig. After his death in January last year, the estate of the founding president of the Chamber of Architects of Saxony went to the Foundation of Saxon Architects. Together with the Kulturstiftung Leipzig, the AKS is now presenting an exhibition and publication about him as part of an honorary colloquium.

In 1966, at the age of only 26, Winfried Sziegoleit, together with Manfred Fasold, was successful in an open competition for a representative Dresden premiere cinema on Prager Straße. The circular cinema built on the basis of this design is one of the impressive achievements of GDR modernism and is now a protected monument. At the end of 1968, Sziegoleit moved to Leipzig, where he was significantly involved in the design planning of the New Gewandhaus for more than a decade. The application of Scharoun's concept for the Great Hall can be traced back to him, and he ultimately gave the façade facing today's Augustusplatz its current appearance, under the influence of a variety of suggestions. The restaurant in the Wildpark Connewitz, the bowling alley at Wilhelm-Leuschner-Platz or the unfortunately no longer existing water fountains in Grimmaische Straße are valid contributions to Leipzig's building culture. As founding president of the Saxon Chamber of Architects, he played a decisive role in the creation of democratic organizational structures for his profession from 1990 onwards.