Architecture Symposium

Yesterday. Today! Tomorrow? - Architecture Symposium 2023

From the museum of late modernism, its history and its future, monument protection, the “third place” or climate box versus climate crisis.

The Kunsthalle Bielefeld was built according to plans by the US architect Philip Johnson (1906-2005) and opened in 1968. It is its only museum building in Europe, a landmark of the city of Bielefeld and significant historical monument. In order to remain viable as a museum, however, after more than fifty years it is now time for a fundamental and future-oriented renovation and modernization.

This is not just about technical innovations, but many aspects have to be taken into account: How does one deal with the history of the Kunsthalle and the preservation requirements of its architecture? How can the renovation itself be ecological and promote sustainable museum work? And what should be considered during the conversion so that the Kunsthalle can meet today’s requirements for museums?

Today, the tasks of museums are no longer limited to the classic areas of collecting, preserving, researching and communicating. Museums today also see their responsibility in being a so-called “third place”. They want to serve as meeting points for our increasingly diverse urban society, to be an open and dialogue-oriented place of encounter and knowledge production for all.

With this in mind, we would like to invite the urban community to a three-part symposium. Everyone is welcome to join national and international experts in publicly discussing the diverse issues and findings from the planning process and to participate in the Kunsthalle’s redevelopment.

We are looking forward to seeing you!

The most important at a glance

When.

April 21 + 22, 2023

September 1 + 2, 2023

October 27 + 28, 2023

Each Friday evening beginning at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Where.

The symposium is open to the public and will take place both on site in the lecture hall of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld and online in a stream via Zoom.

The lectures will be held in German and English. The event will be streamed with English and German subtitles and simultaneous translation from German to English.

How can I participate?

If you want to be there on site in the lecture hall of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld:

Admission per day 5 euros
Free for students, trainees and everyone under 18.
The lectures will be held in German and English.

We will also stream the event via Zoom:

Online participation 7 euros for 2 days
We are streaming the event with English and German subtitles.

Tickets are available four weeks before the respective date here.

Who are the speakers?

Part I: We present all guests here briefly.

Part II: We present all guests here briefly.

Part III: All guests we present here briefly.

Part I: Good Spirits, Bad Spirits:
Facing the history of the Kunsthalle

Program Part I: Friday, April 21, 2023

18:30

Greeting
Karin Schrader, Mayor of the City of Bielefeld

Introduction
pivots Kunsthalle Bielefeld

Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

19:30

Lecture
Years of Construction. Impulse Kunsthalle Mannheim.
Architecture, Concept, Digital Strategy

Dr. Ulrike Lorenz, President of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar

Program Part I: Saturday, April 22, 2023

10:00

Introduction
pivots Kunsthalle Bielefeld

Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

10:30 a.m.

keynote address
Philip Johnson’s 1968 Bielefeld Art Gallery:
a challenge for German architectural criticism.

Prof. Dr. Fritz Neumeyer, Technical University of Berlin, Architectural Theory, em.

11:00

keynote address
Repeated finally “discussed out”!? – Biographical and Memory Cultural Observations on Richard Kaselowsky

Dr. Jochen Rath, City Archive and Regional History Library Bielefeld

11:30 a.m.

keynote address
Art has WUMM – The Kunsthalle and its naming as a place of civil society debates and artistic interventions

Dr. Irene Below, art historian, Werther

– Coffee break –

12:30

Discussion

Moderation: Prof. Dr. Eduard Führ, Brandenburgische Technische Universität Cottbus-Senftenberg, Chair for Theory of Architecture (retired), Honorary Professor for Architectural Education and Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

– Lunch break –

14:30

keynote address
The public museum as a monument
(Das öffentliche Museum als Monument)

Dr. Andrea Lissoni, Haus der Kunst Munich (in English)

15:00

keynote address
The Passions of Philip Johnson
(Die Leidenschaften Philip Johnsons)

Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Lieber, Texas State University (in English)

15:30

keynote address
Moral communication in architecture. About Philip Johnson and Others

Prof. Dr. Stephan Trüby, University of Stuttgart, Fundamentals of Modern Architecture and Design

– Coffee break –

16:30

Discussion

In Part I, we confront the good and evil spirits of Kunsthalle Bielefeld’s history. More informationen about the participants on april 21st and 22nd and recordings of all presentations can be found on our blog here.

Part II: What next? More and more is not enough.
Best Practice in Dealing with Redevelopment, Expansion, Rededication in Reflection of the Expanded Museum Function of the "Third Place."

Program Part II: Friday, September 1, 2023

18:30

Greeting (video message)

Ina Brandes
Minister for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

Introduction
Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

19:30

Lecture
Make Museums Great Again?
The future of museum architecture

Prof. Dr. Philip Ursprung, ETH Zurich, History of Art and Architecture

Program Part II: Saturday, September 2, 2023

10:00

Introduction
Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

10:30

keynote address
“Invisible” Museums. or: The invention of the new as the discovery of the existing.

Prof. Dr. Stanislaus von Moos, University of Zurich, em.

11:00

keynote address
Form versus function. The solution rarely lies in the middle.
Examples from the renovation of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

Dr. Joachim Jäger, New National Gallery Berlin

11:30

keynote address
The overtaxed monument

Prof. Dr. Silke Langenberg, ETH Zurich, Institute of Architecture, Structural Heritage and Preservation of Historical Monuments

– Pause –

12:30

Discussion

Moderation: Prof. Dr. Philip Ursprung, ETH Zurich, history of art and architecture and Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

– Lunch break –

14:30

keynote address
Hanging up instead of hanging down? – Museum Spaces and the New Ethics of Communitization

Prof. Dr. Karen van den Berg, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen, Chair of Art Theory & Staging Practice

15:00

keynote address
Vulnerable Processes. Vulnerable Processes. A Curatorial Reflection on the Museum in Transition.

Prof. Dr. Doreen Mende, Dresden State Art Collections, HEAD Genève

15:30

keynote address
The spatial culture of museums
(titel original in english)

Prof. Dr. Kali Tzorzti, University of Patras, Institute of Architecture, Museology
(conversation in english)

– Pause –

16:30

Discussion

Moderation: Prof. Dr. Philip Ursprung, ETH Zurich, history of art and architecture and Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

In Part II, we ask how the rehabilitation of a historic building can help develop a museum into a “third place,” a meeting place for a diverse community. More information about this and the participants can be found on our blog.

Part III: Climate box versus climate crisis.
Fit for the future: the climate-neutral museum

Program Part III: Friday, October 27, 2023

18:30

Greeting
Britta Haßelmann MdB
Chairwoman of the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen parliamentary group in the Bundestag

Introduction
Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

19:30

Lecture
Rewilding the white cube:
the role of art museums in addressing climate emergency
(Rewilding the white cube: die Rolle der Kunstmuseen bei der Bewältigung des Klimanotstandes)

Frances Morris, Director Emerita Tate Modern, London
(conversation in english)

Program Part III: Saturday, October 28, 2023

10:00

Introduction
Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

10:30 a.m.

keynote address
Exhibiting and preserving as toxic paradigms.
Can cultural institutions negotiate the environmental crisis?

Prof. Dr. Peter J. Schneemann, University of Bern, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art History

11:00

keynote address
The city, the box, the art and the climate.
Attempt at a relational reassembly

Prof. Dipl. Ing. Bernd Kniess, HafenCity University Hamburg, Urban Design

11:30 a.m.

keynote address
Curating as Care Work: Of the Museum Climate in Planetary Interdependencies and Cultural Imaginaries.

Prof. Dr. Elke Krasny, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

– Pause –

12:30

Discussion

Moderation: Jacob Sylvester Bilabel, Network Sustainability in Culture and Media and Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

– Lunch break –

14:30

keynote address
Peace with Gaia – Perspectives, possibilities and limits of cultural institutions in the sustainability transformation process

Ministerialrat Ralph Zinnikus, Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia,
Unit 416, New Cultural Facilities, Sustainability

15:00

keynote address
Look up – the way to a green museum

Prof. Dr. Stefan Simon, Rathgen Research Laboratory Berlin

15:30

keynote address
The path to a climate-friendly museum

Prof. Peter Gorschlüter, Folkwang Museum Essen

– Pause –

16:30

Discussion

Moderation: Jacob Sylvester Bilabel, Network Sustainability in Culture and Media and Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

Part III addresses the question of how a museum can become fit for the future with a view to sustainability and climate protection. More information about this and the participants can be found on our blog.

The symposium is sponsored and supported by:

Black and white logo, the name of the institution flush left and the coat of arms of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia flush right. Black and white logo, a black rectangle in which the name of the club is written in capital letters. Foundation logo, in green is written on the left in capital letters B & A with a circle around it. To the right is the foundation name written out in capital letters.

Kunsthalle Bielefeld Journal

In our accompanying blog to the symposium, you can expect exciting interviews and diverse insights beyond the museum spaces and exhibitions, as well as artistic contributions from students of the University of Applied Sciences.

Here you will find all information about the renovation of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld and the supporting program we have prepared for it. Stay with us and accompany us through this exciting time.

On the left side six pictures of white painted exhibition rooms. Art from the Middle Ages hangs on the walls. To the right is a floor plan drawing with many black lines running through the rooms at different densities, on different paths. A red line marks a circular path through the rooms.

Architecture Symposium, renovation

The spatial culture of museums (Die räumliche Kultur des Museums)

A contribution by Prof. Dr. Kali Tzorzti

On the left, an oblong, rectangular flyer in magenta, on the right one in yellow. In large black letters on the top of both is written: Stannaki Forum Art and Research in Conversation. Below that on the left it says: 05.04.23 Motif, FROMPO. On the right it says: 07.06.23 Mining, AQU.

Architecture Symposium, renovation

Vulnerable Processes. Vulnerable Processes. A Curatorial Reflection on the Museum in Transition.

A contribution by Prof. Dr. Doreen Mende

In a yellow-painted hall-like space stands a large seating area. The stair-like construction is made of poles from scaffolding and wooden boards.

Architecture Symposium, renovation

Abhängen statt aufhängen? – Museum Spaces and the New Ethics of Communitization

A contribution by Prof. Dr. Karen van den Berg

Two blocks of four photos in portrait format. Each shows a section of a building and a word in capital letters: Obvious, Accepted, The opposite of obsious, Incalculable, Forgotten, Hidden, Think ahead, Continue.

Architecture Symposium, renovation

The overwhelmed monument

A contribution by Prof. Dr. Silke Langenberg

Evening twilight. On the right is a modern building with large windows. Bordering it on the left is a paved area with people sitting along its edge. You can look down to another paved area on the left. There are many people, tables, pavilions, surrounded by bushes and small trees.

Architecture Symposium, renovation

Form versus function. The solution rarely lies in the middle.
Examples from the renovation of the Neue Nationalgalerie.

A contribution by Dr. Joachim Jäger

In the foreground, the silhouettes of a row of people standing leaning against a railing. They look up at a yellow glowing sphere that illuminates an industrial-looking vent.

Architecture Symposium, renovation

“Invisible” Museums.
Or: The invention of the new as the discovery of the existing.

A contribution by Prof. Dr. Stanislaus von Moos

An old, large building with several building wings from the bird

Architecture Symposium, renovation

Make Museums Great Again? The future of museum architecture

A contribution by Prof. Dr. Philip Ursprung

Arranged in a triangle, there is a large TV screen at the top, an open laptop at the bottom right and a tablet at the bottom left. All three screens show people sitting on chairs and talking. If you look at all the screens together, they show eight different people, but from different perspectives on each screen.

Architecture Symposium, renovation