Stéphanie Bru

workshop leader

Stéphanie Bru founded Bruther with Alexandre Theriot in Paris in 2007. They belong to the generation of architects who started their careers at the beginning of the recession, a condition likely to be reflected in the way they define architecture: as a Swiss Army knife, a tool to be used in the most disparate circumstances, an aid that reconciles all fields of knowledge.

Their design courage is evident in urban projects, especially those on the margins, often for a public institution with a small budget. Elastic social infrastructures can be seen in the cultural and sports centre (2014) in Saint-Blaise, Paris, and the Nouvelle Génération research centre (2015) in Caen, Normandy. Both act as catalysts for collective urban activity; both are reminiscent of the Brazilian SESC (Social Service of Commerce) buildings. Bruther's work is the subject of international conferences and several publications. In 2019, the monograph El Croquis on their journey was published.

Distinguished by several awards, they have received the Équerre d'Argent prize three times, the Dejean prize in 2018 from the Academy of Architecture and more recently the Swiss Award. Stéphanie Bru became a full member of the Academy of Architecture in 2021. Stéphanie Bru was a visiting professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in 2018. Currently, Stéphanie Bru is an associate professor at the Universität der Künste in Berlin.

Hans-Walter Müller

guest lecture/workshop

Hans-Walter Müller (* 1935 in Worms) is a German architect, engineer and artist, part of the Art cinétique movement and creator of the "inflatable" - pneumatic structures made of plastic. These get their shape from different air pressure conditions that prevail within these volumes.

In the mid-1960s, Hans-Walter Müller developed an increasing interest in how architecture itself could be set in motion. In the context of the exhibition "Structrues Gonflables" (1968) at the Musée d`Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Hans-Walter Müller developed a plastic volume for which the air supply was programmed in such a way that the construction repeatedly lost its form slowly and then rose again - a breathing space in motion. The volume was at the same time a light, an image carrier intended as a three-dimensional projection surface. The images deformed through the movement, accompanied with a sound recording. 

From this point on, Hans-Walter Müller dealt almost exclusively with the subject of architecture supported by air. Through his interdisciplinary expertise, his work developed a particularly interesting relationship between art and science, which initiated a significant intergenerational discourse on space, structure and object.

Hans-Walter Müller lives and experiments in one of his self-designed "gonflables" in La Ferté-Alais near Paris since 50 years. Here he is constantly inventing new ways of attaching the volumes, investigating the air exchange and pressure losses of the constructions, and thus acquiring a knowledge of lightweight "inflatable" structures that is unique in the world.

Tomás Saraceno / Aerocene Project

studio visit

Photo:
Fly with Aerocene Pacha, 2020 for an Aerocene era
On the 25th of January 2020, Aerocene Pacha set 32 world records, recognised by FAI, marking the most sustainable flight in human history. It flew with the message “Water and Life are Worth More than Lithium” written by the communities of Salinas Grandes, Jujuy, Argentina. Fly with Aerocene Pacha is an artwork by Tomás Saraceno produced by the Aerocene Foundation and Studio Tomás Saraceno. Supported by Connect, BTS, curated by DaeHyung Lee.

Initiated by artist Tomás Saraceno in 2015, the Aerocene Foundation is a non-profit organization devoted to community building, artistic experience, education, and scientific research. Its activities manifest, among other things, in the testing and dissemination of solar sculptures that float without any need for fossil fuels, lithium batteries, helium or other rare gases. On the 25th of January 2020, Aerocene Pacha set 32 world records, recognised by FAI, marking the most sustainable flight in human history. It flew with the message “Water and Life are Worth More than Lithium” written by the communities of Salinas Grandes, Jujuy, Argentina. Through collaborative processes and open-source tools, Aerocene works with artists, thinkers, scientists, researchers, balloonists, technologists, humanitarian workers, and visionaries to increase public awareness of global resource circulation, and reactivate a common imaginary towards an ethical collaboration with the environment and the atmosphere. Active in 126 cities, 43 countries and 6 continents, the Aerocene community has floated over 8,000 minutes in the air, free from carbon, for climate justice.

https://aerocene.org/