Dipl.-Ing. Arsitek

In the late 1950s, several young Indonesians went to study in West Germany, including architecture students. Most of them attended the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), while others studied at the technical universities in Hanover and Aachen. After completing their studies, the majority returned to their native Indonesia and quickly became key figures during this dynamic period of the country’s history. Around a third of the graduates remained in Europe, where they embarked on successful architectural careers in Germany and Switzerland.

Drawing from the diploma theses of the Berlin graduates, archived at the TU Berlin Architecture Museum, Dipl.-Ing. Arsitek: An Indonesian-German Architectural History provides insight into this little-known aspect of German-Indonesian relations, for the first time in Germany.

The exhibition, that is based on our exhibition Dipl.-Ing. Arsitek. German-trained Indonesian Architects from the 1960s held in Jakarta in 2022, documents the lives and work of eight of these architects. Three accompanying talks will expand on the exhibition and connect it to broader contemporary discourses.

Opening: Nov. 20, 2024, 6 p.m.
Welcome: Sally Below, Moritz Henning, Eduard Kögel (artistic director and initiator of Encounters with Southeast Asian Modernism) Avianti Armand and Setiadi Sopandi (founders and co-directors of Museum Arsitektur Indonesia), Eike Roswag-Klinge (Technical University of Berlin, Director of the Institute of Architecture Sybilla Bendig (Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, Head of the Department for Cultural and Social Relations Southeast Asia, Australia, Oceania), Thomas Keil (Senate Chancellery Berlin, International Department)

Talk - Strategies of collecting and presenting: November 22nd, 2024, 5 p.m.
In conversation: Avianti Armand and Setiadi Sopandi (founders and directors of the Museum Arsitektur Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia), Adelia Andani Djarot and Angeline Basuki (Museum Arsitektur Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia) Florentine Nadolni (director of the Werkbundarchiv/Museum der Dinge, Berlin, Germany), Hans-Dieter Nägelke (director of the Architecture Museum of the Technical University of Berlin, Germany)
Moderation: Friederike Meyer (BauNetz, architecture journalist)

Talk - The material question: November 27th, 2024
In conversation: Anupama Kundoo (Department of Architecture and Design Methods, Institute of Architecture, Technical University of Berlin) Sina Jansen (Natural Building Lab, Technical University of Berlin) Setiadi Sopandi (Museum Arsitektur Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia Gregorius Jasson, Kota Kita Foundation, Surakarta, Indonesia)
Moderation: Friederike Meyer (BauNetz, architecture journalist)

Talk - The Global History of Architecture - An exclusive narrative: December 5th, 2025, 6 p.m.
In conversation: Nikolai Brandes (global dis:connect research centre, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), Eduard Kögel (co-initiator of the Encounters with Southeast Asian Modernism platform), Ursula Schwitalla (art historian, chairwoman of the Tübingen Art History Society, founder and board member of Diversity in Architecture and initiator of the divia award, Tübingen, Germany), Liang Song (Institute for the History of Building and Urban Planning, Technical University of Berlin, Germany)
Moderation: Friederike Meyer (BauNetz, architecture journalist)