Solar Architecture. Thomas Herzog
Thomas Herzog's work as an architect goes hand in hand with the passive and active use of solar energy by means of thermal buffer zones or photovoltaic systems, and he also experimented with materials and technologies for controlling the building envelope. Particularly during his time as a professor at the GhK (1974-1986), Herzog was active in various research projects, including wall components made of skin and foam (1976), steel construction systems for compacted low-rise buildings (1976), plant-based shading elements on the building surface (1977-80), kinetic façades (1977-80) and the system of a clay façade, with Max Gerharer (1978-2000); much of this research was carried out as part of projects and dissertations at the GhK. The research is continued in Darmstadt and Munich, e.g. the daylight louvre, with Christian Bartenbach (1990), the translucent thermal insulation (TWD) and the façade construction for aerogel panels, which he develops in 1994 in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), the experimental investigation of solar and thermal protection systems made of wood in "second-skin façades" (1996-2000) or photovoltaic screens (1999-2001).
In the project, Alexander Stumm focuses in particular on Herzog's early phase and the influences on his work. These include the landscape architect Peter Latz, who was also appointed to the GhK in 1974 and with whom Herzog realized several projects. Like Minke, Herzog co-founded the Development Group for Urbanism (1969) and was involved in the development of the Metastadt building system; the experimental constructions in wood would be inconceivable without the engineer Julius Natterer, with whom he collaborated for decades. As a co-founder of the GhK's Working Group on Adapted Technology (AGAT) (1977), he is heavily involved in low-tech solutions for energy-saving construction and is inspired by self-build techniques (e.g. Doris and Ralf Tuth). At the same time, he shared the primacy of industrialized construction with Otto Steidle, who taught as a visiting professor at the GhK in 1979/80 and with whom Herzog designed several (unrealized) projects. The research is based on the archive of Thomas Herzog/ Herzog + Partner Architekten in Munich.
Researcher: Alexander Stumm