Simple Architecture. Michael Wilkens and the Baufrösche

Simple construction, building type E, participation, ecological construction, commitment to preventing demolition, as well as extending and building on existing buildings are currently being discussed in many cases as decisive approaches for the construction turnaround. But how can "simplicity" in construction actually be defined? How much standard is enough? What complex interrelationships are necessary for a real understanding of ecological building? Who is being built for and what is the relationship between benefits and costs? These questions are not new, but have been anchored in the architectural discourse for over 50 years. One of the most radical players was Michael Wilkens and his Kassel-based architecture firm Baufrösche. As early as the 1970s, he was concerned with low-cost building, substandard, self-help, prefabrication and modular construction, as well as a profound critique of a modern self-image of the architect as an artistic genius. Wilkens, who can be regarded as one of the great German-speaking architectural theorists of the second half of the 20th century, develops his concepts and practices by engaging with important architects of the 20th century. Instead of "heroes" such as Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus, he drew on the tradition of a "different" modernism of Adolf Loos, Leberecht Migge, Hugo Häring, Martin Wagner and Hannes Meyer.

The research project is dedicated to the most important built projects and designs by Wilkens and the Baufrösche, which are to be systematically excavated in the Baufrösche archive and made comprehensively accessible for the first time, as well as a historical-critical classification of the theoretical work. Last but not least, it sheds light on Wilken's alternative pedagogical approaches as Professor of Planning Theory at the Gesamthochschule Kassel.

Researcher: Alexander Stumm