Learning from the "Fun Palace of Mathematics"

We continue our investigation on the mathematics building at Berlin's Technische Universität, designed by architects Georg Kohlmaier and Barna von Sartory.
Our Fun Palace des Mathematiques may not feature in architectural history, but it has all the hallmarks of its era.
A vast liner of glass and metal, it evokes both industrial imaginations and the pop monumentality of Archigram's collages.
Every glazed surface and every thickness of insulation becomes the subject of bitter negotiations. In this way, this building perhaps even became, almost unwillingly,
one of the first "eco-modern" buildings, having to reconcile objectives that were at first sight antagonistic.

In 2023, the state of Berlin did not include the building of the mathematics institute of the TU in the list of Berlin universities in need of refurbishment. The future of the building remains unclear, only demolition is not an option. The giant sleeps and waits.

But what does that mean?
What is to be done?
What is obsolete?
Or do we even need all the answers to those questions?

Something continues, must continue, but some aspects will be different in the future. History is constructed out of a collection of stories, fueled by memory. How we construct the future is not so different, i’ts a storytelling of the imaginary. It is a correction of the now. It’s hard to tell what defines the balancing of the inquilibrium state of the Fun Palace of Mathématiques. Or is it? What could be possible futures for the TU´s math building? Who knows what the future is? Can you tell us?

Taking the knowledge from last semester as a starting point, we will collect various questions that can help us envision possible futures and narrate these futures through a short film. We will investigate how to gain knowledge about fields that are not typically considered part of the architecture discipline but nevertheless are crucial to rethink the methods we use in our daily practice. At the end of the semester the short films will be installed at the TU’s math building.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a symposium to discuss in public the futures of the building.

Studio Introduction: 

15.04.2024
6pm CET
R312