negotiating ungers 2. the oberhausen institute and the materiality of the social

the oberhausener institut zur erlangung der hochschulreife realized by oswald mathias ungers between 1953 and 1959 is a project that leads to the center of the architectural debate of the 1950s in germany. the institute combined a progressive pedagogical approach with a new architectural language, which linked the architecture of the federal republic of germany to the larger european post-war context and to transnational networks such as team 10.

with the project ungers addressed the challenge of designing a space with specific intentions regarding its social effects. ungers’ design followed emancipatory ideas; the spatial arrangement and the material aesthetics of the school were conceived in close dialogue with the desired social processes and structures.

developed through research started with a summer school at the ungers archiv für architekturwissenschaft in cologne in 2019 the publication centers around the building, its in-built behavior and material strategies, and its atmospheric and perceived qualities by integrating findings from interviews with former students, and artistic research.

with an essay by gregor harbusch, texts by cornelia escher, lars fischer and others, interviews with former students and artistic research by photographer bertrand cavalier.

designed by geoff han and minhwan kim

printed by printon (estonia)

isbn 978-0-9882906-3-1

available at: idea books; or email.

this publication was made possible with support from ku leuven, faculty of architecture, kunstakademie  düsseldorf, and ungers  archiv  für  architekturwissenschaft.

negotiating  ungers.  the materiality of the social, exhibition, 2019