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01. Oct 2009 - EnOB Summer Academy 2009: students develop new project
Abstract
Yesterday was the last day of the Summer Academy 2009, which is run by the EnOB research initiative. With a theme of “Architecture with Energy”, this educational event was aimed at students of architecture. Thirty-two students were set the task of finding a new use for a specific building on the ELBA site in Wuppertal and developing the refurbishment project through to the preliminary design. Yesterday, the impressive results of their work were presented before the Vice Chancellor of Wuppertal University, representatives of the city, business development agencies and real estate developers.
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How can the subject of energy-optimised construction be made more accessible to architecture students? Easy: take a real project, an appealing planning task at a charming event location, some high-profile speakers, ensure there is intensive support and add some interesting excursions into the mix. This is what happened from 21 to 30 September 2009 at the EnOB Summer Academy “Architecture with Energy”. The Summer Academy was jointly planned and organised by the architecture faculties at the universities of Wuppertal, Karlsruhe and Dresden.
The event was held at the Huppertsbergfabrik, a multi-storey factory building from the early 20th century that is typical for Wuppertal. In recent years the disused factory has been developed into an attractive location for events as well as offices for the creative industries. The location was selected with the aim of inspiring the participants, as their brief was firstly to find a new use for a similar building on what is known as the ELBA site, and then to develop a preliminary design. The project task was to develop outstanding architecture that also offers a high level of comfort with minimised energy requirements and low running costs.
The participants gained additional inspiration during the daytime with excursions to outstanding demonstration projects in the region, and possibly at night too in the freshly refurbished “Neue Burse” student residence hall and passive house where the participants stayed. Participants received intensive support; for example they learned how to use simulation tools to optimise the building climate and energy aspects of their designs. The architects Dietmar Riecks from Bochum (Solvis zero-emission factory) and Michael Müller from Wuppertal (“Neue Burse” student residence hall) offered valuable assistance with the designs.
Following the success of the first EnOB Summer Academy, the organisers have now decided that this event will be continued next year.