Architecture Symposium

On top an arrow to the left from the word Yesterday. In the middle, three times the word Today in a line. Below an arrow to the right from the word Tomorrow.

Architecture
Symposium

A museum develops

Part of the building of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld in dark salmon color. A cuboid on a column drawn in width, which stands on a plate.

Good Spirits, Bad Spirits
April 21 + 22, 2023

White silhouette of a part of the building Kunsthalle Bielefeld on dark salmon color. The outline is a cuboid on a column drawn in width, standing on a plate.

What next? More and more is not enough.
September 1 + 2, 2023

An architectural model of the Kunsthalle Bielefeld. The whole image is colored light salmon.

Climate box versus climate crisis.
October 27 + 28, 2023

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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

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.

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.

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 5 euros for one and 7 euros for 2 days
  • We will stream the event with English and German subtitles and simultaneous translation from German to English.
  • Only in the stream we can offer the translation.

Tickets are available here.

Part I: We present all guests here briefly.

 

The information about part II and III will follow.

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

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

10:00

Introduction
pivots Kunsthalle Bielefeld

Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

 

10:30 a.m.

kick-off presentation
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

kick-off presentation
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.

kick-off presentation
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 panel
Moderation:

Prof. Dr. Eduard Führ, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Chair of Theory of Architecture (em), Honorary Professor of Architectural Mediation and Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

 

– Lunch break –

 

14:30

kick-off presentation
The public museum as a monument
(Das öffentliche Museum als Monument)

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

 

15:00

kick-off presentation
The Passions of Philip Johnson
(Die Leidenschaften Philip Johnsons)

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

 

15:30

kick-off presentation
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

Diskussion
Moderator: Prof. Dr. Eduard Führ, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, Chair of Theory of Architecture (em), Honorary Professor of Architectural Mediation and Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

In Part I, we confront the good and evil spirits of Kunsthalle Bielefeld’s history. More information about this and the participants can be found on our blog.

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."

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

10:00

Introduction
Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

 

10:30

kick-off presentation
The “archaeological” way of thinking.
or: The invention of the new as the discovery of the existing.

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

 

11:00

kick-off presentation
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

kick-off presentation
The overtaxed monument

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

 

– Pause –

 

12:30

Discussion
Prof. Dr. Philip Ursprung, ETH Zurich, History of Art and Architecture, and Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

 

– Lunch break –

 

14:30

kick-off presentation
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

kick-off presentation
A museum haunted by turmoil, that releases building blocks for a world at the end of this world.

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

 

15:30

kick-off presentation
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
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

18:30

Greeting
N. N.

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, Tate Modern, London
(conversation in english)

10:00

Introduction
Christina Végh, Director Kunsthalle Bielefeld

 

10:30 a.m.

kick-off presentation
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

kick-off presentation
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
kick-off presentation
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 panel
Moderation: N.N.

 

– Lunch break –

 

14:30

kick-off presentation
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

kick-off presentation
Look up – the way to a green museum

Prof. Dr. Stefan Simon, Rathgen Research Laboratory Berlin

 

15:30

kick-off presentation
The path to a climate-friendly museum

Prof. Peter Gorschlüter, Folkwang Museum Essen

 

– Pause –

 

16:30

Discussion panel
Moderation: N.N.

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.