Philipp Oswalt: Building a National House. Reconstructed buildings and Identity Politics (GER)

The reconstruction of important historic buildings is seen as a commitment to historical awareness, architectural beauty, and the repair of urban space. However, the supposedly apolitical facades aim to change our understanding of history and society: times before 1918 are idealised in a populist manner, ruptures are negated and established identities overwritten.

The lecture aims to place the process of reconstructing buildings in the historical-political context of recent decades. Based on extensive research into the Berliner Schloss and the Garnisonkirche in Potsdam, it reveals the role of the radical right wing in these projects and how their ideas have penetrated the centre of society.

Philipp Oswalt, born 1964 in Frankfurt am Main, is an architect and publicist living in Berlin. Among other things, he was head of the project »Shrinking Cities« of the German Federal Cultural Foundation (2002–2008), Co-Initiator and -curator of the cultural interim use of the Palast der Republik Berlin in 2004 and director of the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau (2009–2014). Since 2006, he is Professor of Architectural Theory and Design at the University of Kassel. He is the author and editor of numerous publications on contemporary architecture and urban development as well as co-chairman of the Hessian State Agency for the Preservation of Historical Monuments.

Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Marienstraße 13c, Hörsaal B
Beginn: 18.45