Schulz und Schulz: Building N - best architects 20

Schulz und Schulz

Building N

best architects 20

education buildings

Place

Karlsruhe, Germany

Photos

Gustav Willeit

Description

The campus of the HsKa University in Karlsruhe is a typical example of German university buildings of the 1960 and ‘70s. Pragmatically structured cubes with concrete façades create a landscaped campus of high functionality with a welcoming quality that has, however, aged somewhat. Building N replaces Building P, so it was logical to complement the location with a building in the same stylistic idiom. Located on a corner of the campus, the new building is compactly set out on a square floor plan in five sections. A central opening forms the core of the building. The differently treated exposed concrete surfaces point to the greater scope offered by today’s concrete technology. Thematically related to the Sensor Technology discipline, which is based here, the art on the exterior of the building shows a work by the artist Jörg Mandernach, who has left an oversized fingerprint on the façade.