Network of Students´ Interventions for Werben

Rethinking Modernism´ by Revitalizing … Werben for Example

Studio in 2009 consisted of three parts: “Listen and Act”, our Workshop on May 20th; it was followed by „Modern Ways of Living”, our Conference on May 28th and “Revitalizing Werben”, our Project from May 18th to July 11th.

Werben is a lovely town in Saxonia – Anhalt, Germany, which was named in the records as early as in 1005. Situated close to the river Elbe, it obtained its town rights in 1151. Not only the gothic church of Sankt Johannis (1160) reminds of these times, even main parts of the town wall with its ´hunger tower´ remained, as did the Salzkirche (salt church), dating back from 1313. Together with many well restored half – timbered houses, these historic landmarks shape this small town alongside river Elbe. Due to its remoteness, Werben wasn´t destroyed during World War II (unlike as it happened to most towns in Germany). Nevertheless, Werben today is a city at its limits: since 1989, the year of Germany´s reunification, it lost about one quarter of its inhabitants due to economic reasons. Just 827 persons are still living here, important institutions as school, public swimming pool and supermarket are just at the edge to be closed down.

This was the setting for our Studio in 2009: On the one hand: Werben as a medieval town by origin, with a rich history and a large amount of very old and thus worthy buildings – and on the other hand: a drain of population for more than 20 years, which brings this town to the edge of its existence. Besides its holdings of historic buildings, the potential of Werben lays in its public spirit and the personal engagement of numerous of its citizens: – Twice a year, Werben celebrates ´Biedermeier Day´ and attracts thousands of tourists by showing early 19th century´s life in front of the city´s perfect historical background. – Individuals recognize the potential of cheap-to-have historical buildings and renovate them to rent them to tourists. – The town´s representatives are open towards individual engagement as well as to ideas and concepts from extern.

´Rethinking Modernism´, the overall theme of Dessau Summerschool of Architecture, in 2009 worked on the task of revitalizing this town. Listening to our local partners helped us to understand history, desires of the inhabitants and thus the forces inherent to the city. This analysis lead to design a network of intervention as listed above: “Networking Networks – OnSiteLab”, “OvercomingGates”, “SocialNetworks”, “GothicRoute + Music Network”, “MED(works)”, “Modular River Highway”, “City Theatre” and “Werben Modular Embassy”. Studio was embedded in Universities´ cooperation with Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, which carries out International Building Exhibition (IBA) on Urban Redevelopment 2010 (see www.iba-stadtumbau.de). Our excursions lead us to the highlights of International Building Exhibition 2010 as well.

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“MED(works)”

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“Werben Modular Embassy”

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Participants 2009