wandel gestalten

Vernissage: Das Netzwerk Lucius Burckhardt und der Werkbund

The principles of modern architecture and urban planning have become so widespread since the Second World War that they have destabilised the Earth's ecosystem and climate system. Today, they are facing a profound transformation: the construction revolution. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Lucius Burckhardt's time as the first chairman of the German Werkbund, the exhibition ‘wandel gestalten’ (shaping change) at the WerkbundForum of the German Werkbund Hessen looks in two directions: back at the tradition of ecological building since the 1970s and forward to the present of digital transformation.

The exhibition is curated by Felix Dölker and Alexander Stumm and was created in collaboration with students from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and Lübeck Technical University.

The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the Werkbund's diverse exhibition, event and publication projects from 1976 to 1983. During this period, the Werkbund stood for a fundamental critique of the conventional construction industry and the top-down, car-friendly city – and it promoted new participatory structures and ecological concepts. Lucius Burckhardt, a sociologist, was only the head of a much larger network of actors, which also included Michael Andritzky, Ot Hoffmann, Rudolf Doernach, Gernot Minke, Walter Segal and Eilfried Huth. Their radical openness to a different kind of architecture can serve as a model for the Bauwende.

‘Shaping Change’ aims to raise awareness of a little-known part of the Werkbund's history.

In the second part, the exhibition turns its attention to the present and asks how the critical issues addressed by the Werkbund and Lucius Burckhardt's own planning approaches – in particular promenadology – can be applied to the challenges of the digital age. It focuses on the invisible architectures of digitalisation, covering everything from algorithmically controlled platforms and AI-supported planning tools to the climate impacts and social problems of digital infrastructures. Just as Burckhardt once deconstructed the fossilised logic of the car-friendly city with great sensitivity, today we need to decipher the power relations, environmental impacts and design logic of digital spaces – and look for participatory alternatives.

The exhibition is accompanied by books containing Lucius Burckhardt's texts on promenadology, which were developed in a typography seminar under the supervision of Su Korbjuhn, Vincent Brod and Rade Matic.

The exhibition is part of World Design Capital 2026 Frankfurt Rhine-Main and is accompanied by a programme of events including panel discussions and city walks. Cooperation partners are Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and Lübeck University of Applied Sciences.

The exhibition venue is located close to the city centre at Weckmarkt 3–5, directly behind the cathedral.

Language: German, admission: free

DURATION AND OPENING HOURS

20 March – 3 June 2026, every Tuesday, 2:30–5:30 p.m. and Wednesday, 3:30–6:30 p.m.