ICOMOS Student Competition 2023:
"1960+ / Pleas for the preservation of postmodern buildings"
Presentation of the award-winning works on 23 January 2024 in Stuttgart
In the interests of preserving the architectural heritage in a way that promotes understanding of the built environment, more recent examples of the history of architecture and urban planning are increasingly becoming the focus of monument conservation. This includes works from the 1960s to 1990s, which are now attracting increasing public attention and conservation interest, but are also causing controversy. With the student competition "60plus - Postmodernism", the organisers wanted to continue the ICOMOS student competitions "from 60 to 90" in 2015, "60plus XXL" in 2017, "Underground and Transport Buildings" in 2019 and "Brutalism" in 2021 and this time focus on the undogmatic creations of postmodernism: Wildly sweeping curvatures, turquoise window frames, a pastiche of geometric shapes in primary colours or references to architectural history that don't seem entirely serious - postmodern buildings often seem like foreign objects that make their architectural contexts appear comparatively conventional. It often takes a second or third look to appreciate the qualities of the often seemingly odd buildings that are labelled postmodern.
In 2023, the competition was organised by ICOMOS Germany, the Wüstenrot Foundation and the Arbeitskreis Theorie und Lehre der Denkmalpflege e.V. in collaboration with the Bauhaus University Weimar, the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects and the KIT - Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The competition was aimed in particular at students of architecture, urban planning, art history, archaeology and restoration and other monument conservation disciplines. The aim of the task was to take an in-depth look at the architectural and urban planning heritage of postmodernism. The aim was not only to call for the protection of postmodernist buildings, but also to critically analyse and evaluate existing measures or to make precise proposals for their protection and conservation.
More than 60 student entries were submitted from around 20 universities in six countries (Germany, Australia, Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Switzerland).
The jury consisted of:
Kirsten Angermann, Bauhaus University Weimar
Anette Busse, KIT Karlsruhe
Philip Kurz, Wüstenrot Foundation
Tino Mager, ICOMOS Germany
Joaquín Medina Warmburg, KIT Karlsruhe
Hans-Rudolf Meier, Bauhaus University Weimar
Markus Müller, Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects
Christian Raabe, Working Group Theory and Teaching of Monument Conservation
Four works from the competition have been honoured with a first prize and four with a second prize. As in previous competitions, the winners will receive prize money from the Wüstenrot Foundation.
1st Prize:
Michael Blackmore, BTU Cottbus: Portland Mall Bus Shelter, the Former
Victoria Marie Mann, Anna Witt, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Saalgasse Frankfurt
Jan-Gerrit Müller-Scheeßel, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Alte Schmiede Scheeßel – Die dörfliche Postmoderne
Ahmet Toglukdemir, RWTH Aachen: documenta urbana
2nd Prize:
Sascha Kipper, Alexander Wiese, Fachhochschule Erfurt: Energiesparhaus Hopfgarten
Anna Kranitz, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: Das Schiff der Hökerinnen
Helena Macarthur, St Scholastica’s College Glebe, Sydney/ Australien: Crane 302 Cockatoo Island Wareamah AU
Lilith Wagner, Johanna List, Fachhochschule Erfurt: Karstadt am Gewandhaus: Das Aus fürs Warenhaus?
The eight award-winning posters were presented on 23 January at the Chamber of Architects Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart.
(Photo: The award winners and members of the jury present in Stuttgart on 23 January 2024; © AKBW / Jan Potente)
