BDA Study Award
The BDA Kassel is offering a new thematic study award for students at the University of Kassel for 2025. From now on, this will take place every two years in the summer semester. The topics combine questions of architectural design with current social discourses and motivate a position on the major discourses shaping the present, such as climate change and the demand for an ecological transformation and - in contrast - right-wing populist demands for identity that aim for social homogeneity. The theme for the year 2025 is:
The roof is a battleground in architectural discourse. Ideologically charged, there was a fundamental dispute between flat and pitched roofs in Germany around 1930. While some right-wing populists are trying to revive this form of polarization, a diverse approach to the roof has long since become common practice in the construction industry. However, the roof remains a conflict zone - in a technical, legal and cultural sense. With regard to the design of the roof, the theme "Newly reconsidered" explores contemporary counter-positions to both neo-traditional and image-fixated "urban beautification" and an unreflected flat roof automatism. Roof shapes shape the character and silhouette of buildings, their formal design contributes significantly to the appearance of neighborhoods.
It is not without reason that they are an important element of design statutes. No part of a building is as exposed to the weather, both good and bad, as the roof. The roof should protect against its adversities and benefit from its blessings. Here, sun and rainwater can be harvested, a wide view can be enjoyed. The roof is legally contestable can offer usable space and yet is not considered a "full floor" under planning law. A wide range of roof shapes try to make use of this, whereby it becomes apparent how much design qualities are subordinated to an interest in utilization.
The BDA Study Award Kassel 2025 invites you to develop contemporary architectural approaches that examine the aesthetic, technical and social possibilities of the design of the roof zone. The topic asks about the formal content of contemporary architecture that rethinks modernism. Projects can examine this question on various scales, ranging from business parks to individual residential buildings, from refurbishment to new planning. Entries are invited that consider the question of the shape of the roof from an urban design, construction, energy, use-oriented or construction industry perspective and formulate a contemporary architectural expression from this perspective.
All students of the University of Kassel are eligible to participate. Work created after the call for entries can be submitted. The submission of final theses and project work is just as possible as the submission of free designs. The work submitted does not have to be limited to the theme of the competition, but must deal with it in depth.
The competition entries must be presented on a maximum of two DIN A0 plans in portrait format and with a model with the maximum base plate size of DIN A0. The plans should include a site plan, floor plans, sections and elevations, at least one spatial representation, diagrams to explain the concept and an explanatory text of no more than 3,000 characters. The submission is to be written anonymously and marked with a six-digit, self-chosen code number. An author's declaration must be submitted in a sealed envelope. The plans must also be submitted as a PDF file, the explanatory report as a text file and photos of the model on Moodle/ or to a web address.
Participants: please register for the Moodle course:
The submission must be anonymous (neither authors nor supervisors must be named) and must be given a six-digit, self-selected code number. An author's declaration including the names of the supervisors must be submitted in a sealed envelope. The author's declaration contains a passage that grants the awarding authority and the University of Kassel non-exclusive rights of use for the communication of the competition results.
The plans must be received by the BDA Kassel by Wednesday, October 1, 2025 5:00 p.m.
Contact address: punkt4 Architekten BDA I Friedrichsstraße 20 I 34117 Kassel
mail: kontakt[at]punkt4[dot]net Tel: 0561/953628
The model must be handed in on Wednesday, 08/10 between 16:00 and 18:00 at the KAZ in the Kulturbahnhof
The plans must also be submitted as a PDF file, the explanatory report as a text file and photos of the model in the Moodle course for the BdA prize on the Moodle platform of the University of Kassel.
Jury (requested): Philipp Krebs / Ulrike Pape / Stefanie Hartung / Wolfgang Dunkelau/ Guido Höfert
Endowment: Prize money totaling 2,000 euros will be awarded.
Award ceremony
Tuesday, November 11, 2025, 19:00 at the Kassel Architecture Center KAZ.
Exhibitions
The submitted works will be exhibited from October 11 - 18. October in the Kassel Architecture Center KAZ, then from November 24 - December 11 in the foyer of the ASL Neubau.
The BDA Hessen awards the study prize for architecture and urban planning at seven Hessian universities to promote young students. The prizewinners' work will be published in a publication.
The following design projects are offered for the BdA Study Prize in the summer semester: