Absolutes Abrissverbot - Eine Ausstellung über die Absurdität unserer Abrissgesellschaft

In the organizer's words:

What remains when nothing remains? What does it mean to demolish a building - for the city, for the people, for our culture?

In the 'Exhibition Architecture' course at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences, 30 students of architecture and interior design are testing the responsibility of their future activities and growing professional expertise: they are embarking on a search for the background to architecture, or more specifically the architecture that is already there, the building stock that is at risk of demolition.

"An eyesore", "dilapidated", or "future-proof" and "sustainable". Who decides that? When is a building historic, when is it just old? Which buildings represent Cologne's history and what happens to memories when the places where they were built disappear? What responsibility does society bear in dealing with buildings, what are the obligations of ownership and how do you act 'correctly'? What happens when arguments such as 'housing shortage' or 'education' become commonplace? And what effect do these changes have on our cityscape? Between building regulations, expert opinions and politics are questions of sustainability, aesthetics and, not least, personal perception: what is worth preserving or when is a building "ugly enough" for demolition?

In the brutalist church of St. Gertrud in Cologne, students can share their ideas and thoughts from a semester with the public for a week from March 8 to 16, 2025 in the form of a specially developed exhibition.

Working in small groups, the students will develop objects, installations and actions whose spatial translation will introduce visitors to the complex world of demolition decisions - a topic that deals with the social problems of resource scarcity, land consumption, unequal distribution, CO2 emissions and climate change, but also identification, (personal) value, manipulation, taste and history.

I cordially invite you to celebrate the opening with us at the vernissage on March 8 at 6 pm. Detailed, critical and with room for emotions - "be part of a sustainable future" and immerse yourself in the contradictions of our demolition society. Because: "Wat fott es, es fott" - right?