News

In December, our joint research project “Department Stores “WARENHÄUSER” as Catalysts for Sustainable Inner-City Development” was launched together with Bauhaus University Weimar (Chair of Urban Design and Spatial Development, Prof. Dorothee Rummel) and Leibniz University Hannover (Chair of Urban and Regional Development, Prof. Tim Rieniets).

As part of the Zukunft Bau program of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR), we are investigating the future of former department and retail stores that have fallen out of use. For the first time, the interrelations between the building itself and its inner-city surroundings are being systematically analyzed.

Are you working on the transformation of department stores as a municipality, real estate expert, or researcher? — Contribute your expertise and participate in the project! More information here.

In summer 2025, the TUM School of Engineering and Design piloted new teaching formats to highlight the social role and contributions of engineers in transformation processes. Three interdisciplinary summer schools examined transformation from different perspectives: belonging (Prof. Annette Diefenthaler), working environments (Prof. Klaus Bengler), and built structures (Prof. Mark Michaeli). The diverse results are presented at a public closing event at Pavilion 333 in Munich – featuring an exhibition of the projects, guest lectures, and discursive formats.

Symposium and exhibition “Transformation Cabinet of Curiosities”: October 30, 2025, 4:00 p.m., Pavilion 333

Speakers: Kim Dabbs, Robert Martinez von Bülow, Dr. Sascha Wischniewski, Prof. Dr. Klaus Bengler, Nicole Fritsch, Prof. Mark Michaeli, Christine von Raven, Hanna Noller
Moderation: Anna-Maria Mayerhofer, Sebastian Klawiter, Dr. Lorenz Prasch

Supported by Bundesanstalt für Straßen- und Verkehrswesen (BASt)
More information about our summer school “RiesenChancen für die Stadt. Elf Gebäude – Tausendundeins Zukünfte”

What social added value can future church transformations provide for the surrounding neighbourhoods, and which additional uses can serve the common good in a meaningful way? Two summer lectures in collaboration with the Church of the Resurrection (Auferstehungskirche) in Munich’s Westend explore this question.

On 29 February 2024, the results of the design studio “urban transitions lab – future(s) of the everyday city in PHV Heidelberg” were presented to the planning department of the City of Heidelberg and First Mayor Jürgen Odzuck. The studio outcomes for Patrick-Henry-Village were received with great enthusiasm and discussed passionately in a workshop format.

The accompanying publication “urban transitions lab – highlights, dimensions and student impulses for Patrick-Henry Village” presents the collected student work and was handed over to the City of Heidelberg during the presentation.

The publication is out! 

On the occasion of the Göderitz Prize, the best works have been compiled in a publication (in German). It includes two student projects that were developed within the framework of a design studio. Publication online

[Translate to en:]

The Technical University of Munich - TUM, Chair of Sustainable Urbanism, in collaboration with the National Technical University of Athens, School of Architecture, is organizing a public event with the title 'Athens' Futures', on Friday 6 May 2022, from 5pm onwards, at Kautantzoglou Hall - NTUA. The event is organized as part of a week-long student workshop with participation from five Schools of Architecture: Athens, Munich, Thessaloniki, Patras and Chania.

Inklusionsmaschine STADT fasst Erkenntnisse aus der Forschung zu Inklusion im Städtebau, sowie den an der Hochschule München durchgeführten experimentellen, interdisziplinären Werkstattgesprächen zusammen. Herausgeber sind Prof. Andrea Benze und Dorothee Rummel. Erschienen im Jovis Verlag, September 2020. (ISBN 978-3-86859-627-4)