Research Field: Architectural Theory — Standards and Methods of Seriality

Research Seminar

(1,5 SWS / 6 ECTS)

Language: German

Time: First event: Thursday, October 16, 2025, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Location/room: Seminar building, Wüllnerstraße 5b, room 317,
Further events: Thursdays, same time, same location.

Excursion to Frankfurt/Main, November 24-28, 2025.

Lecturers: Prof. Axel Sowa, Florian Eschner MSc

Selection of concrete blocks with different surfaces from Harmon S. Palmer, Washington D.C.

The Department of Architectural Theory is preparing a thematic exhibition on seriality in planning and building, which will be shown next year at the Museum of Applied Arts in Frankfurt am Main. As part of these preparations, we are investigating case studies of serial building from different eras and scales. In this area of research, we will focus particularly on the historical development of building systems and their production. This development ranges from the patents, procedures, and construction processes of early, high, and late modernism to current procedures for prefabricating modules and components made of various materials.

Students receive an introduction to research methods in the history of building technology and conduct their own research on focal points of the exhibition. They learn how to present their research results to a broad audience through photography, film, drawings, models, and texts. As part of the research, students will take an excursion to Frankfurt am Main, likely during “White Week.”