Schulz und Schulz

Description

Gießen was once the centre of ceramic tile production in Germany, and it was here that the industrious cigar manufacturer Wilhelm Gail founded his steam-powered tile and pottery factory in 1891. The production of glazed veneer ceramics for use in structures including Olympic buildings, the Elbe Tunnel and even space shuttles continued in the town until 2002. Many of these products also found a use closer to home, and today Gießen is full of tiled façades. The new buildings for the Technical University of Applied Sciences of Central Hesse revive this tradition and provide a reminder of the town’s glory days. The university has been located on its current Wiesenstrasse site since the 1960s. Here, as elsewhere in this heavily war-damaged town, the general look and feel of the architecture bears the stamp of the 1960s and 70s. A desire to reorganise the campus led to a master plan designed to achieve greater density and create better links with the rest of the neighbourhood. As a result, the university’s Mechanical and Power Engineering and Civil Engineering departments were housed in two separate buildings, making the campus more permeable and knitting it together with its low-rise, compartmentalised surroundings. The uniform design creates the appearance of an ensemble constructed simultaneously. A range of spatial specifications and the adaptability required of the interiors produced floor plans with a uniform grid and few load-bearing elements.