课程信息

Digital Teaching
Programmed for Hope: Architectural Experimentation at the HfG Ulm (1953–68)

Block seminar with excursion to the exhibition at the HFG Ulm
https://museumulm.de/ausstellung/programmierte-hoffnung-architekturexperimente-an-der-hfg-ulm/

Belief in progress, technology, and growth also shaped the Ulm School of Design (HfG) in the 1950s and 1960s. Four years after its founding, the HfG shifted its focus from craft-based teaching to scientific and systematic methods. Disciplines such as cybernetics, mathematical operations analysis, systems theory, and information theory were introduced by pioneers such as Norbert Wiener, Max Bense, and Horst Rittel.
This paradigm shift led to the Ulm Model, which opened up new avenues for architectural design on a scientific basis. Students in the Building Department developed approaches ranging from semi-automated shopping malls and serial truss structures based on Buckminster Fuller to modular, metabolically inspired residential and school buildings. The goal was to make architecture scientific, interdisciplinary, and socially responsible.

The seminar examines the basic teachings of the HfG Department of Architecture, which emerged from a synthesis of precise craftsmanship, theoretical reflection, and technological expertise. It is based on studies of contemporary and specialist history (1950s to 1970s) as well as the reconstruction of design tasks and early algorithmic design methods.
In a two-day workshop at the HfG Ulm, we approach these approaches and reconstruct them using current tools. We analyze exhibited exhibits (drawings, models), review archival materials and literature in the HfG library.
Based on the historical teaching at the HfG, we will discuss the relationship between architectural research and design and reflect on its relevance for today's design processes.

Official Course Description
[b]Programmed for Hope: Architectural Experimentation at the HfG Ulm (1953–68)[/b]

Block seminar with [b]excursion at 20.10.-21.10.2025[/b] to the exhibition at the HFG Ulm
https://museumulm.de/ausstellung/programmierte-hoffnung-architekturexperimente-an-der-hfg-ulm/

Belief in progress, technology, and growth also shaped the Ulm School of Design (HfG) in the 1950s and 1960s. Four years after its founding, the HfG shifted its focus from craft-based teaching to scientific and systematic methods. Disciplines such as cybernetics, mathematical operations analysis, systems theory, and information theory were introduced by pioneers such as Norbert Wiener, Max Bense, and Horst Rittel.
This paradigm shift led to the Ulm Model, which opened up new avenues for architectural design on a scientific basis. Students in the Building Department developed approaches ranging from semi-automated shopping malls and serial truss structures based on Buckminster Fuller to modular, metabolically inspired residential and school buildings. The goal was to make architecture scientific, interdisciplinary, and socially responsible.

The seminar examines the basic teachings of the HfG Department of Architecture, which emerged from a synthesis of precise craftsmanship, theoretical reflection, and technological expertise. It is based on studies of contemporary and specialist history (1950s to 1970s) as well as the reconstruction of design tasks and early algorithmic design methods.
In a two-day workshop at the HfG Ulm, we approach these approaches and reconstruct them using current tools. We analyze exhibited exhibits (drawings, models), review archival materials and literature in the HfG library.
Based on the historical teaching at the HfG, we will discuss the relationship between architectural research and design and reflect on its relevance for today's design processes.