Books by Uta Pottgiesser
LDE HERITAGE CONFERENCE, 2020
The International LDE Heritage Conference 2019 on Heritage and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG... more The International LDE Heritage Conference 2019 on Heritage and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) took place from 26 to 28 November 2019 at TU Delft, in the Netherlands. The conference examined the theories, methodologies and practices of heritage and SDGs. The conference was organized in collaboration with the TU Delft, the LDE Center for Global Heritage and Development (CGHD), heritage researchers at the three partner universities of Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam and with other consortium and international partners.
Papers by Uta Pottgiesser
BK BOOKS, Jan 11, 2021
The key role of reuse in providing a sustainable future was the basis of the Seoul-Eindhoven stat... more The key role of reuse in providing a sustainable future was the basis of the Seoul-Eindhoven statement, which specifically incorporated the concept of reuse into Docomomo's updated constitution. The longevity of the Modern Movement has demonstrated its legitimacy as an enduring concept. Relating technology, spatial form, and social commitment to one another, and animated by an optimistic faith in progress, modern architects sought to attain new heights of functionality while meeting contemporary demands. Yet dramatic developments in society since then have created incredibly damaging effects on a vast scale: irreparable environmental damage, the breakdown of traditions and cultures, mass consumerism, hyper-individualization, etc. The challenge is to find ways to deal with this recent legacy, promoting sustainability in today's continually changing context, including physical, economic, and functional aspects, as well as fast-moving normative, sociocultural, and political values.
Zukunftshäuser der Vergangenheit — Wohnkonzepte des 19. + 20. Jahrhunderts
„ZukunftshAuser“ steht als Uberbegriff fur Siedlungs-, Haus- und Wohnkonzepte, die Impulse fur da... more „ZukunftshAuser“ steht als Uberbegriff fur Siedlungs-, Haus- und Wohnkonzepte, die Impulse fur das Wohnen und Leben der Menschen in ihrer jeweiligen Epoche geben oder sich als Experiment verstehen. Diese Konzepte zeichnen sich durch einzelne innovative Eingriffe oder durch ganzheitliche Masnahmenpakete aus, die vom jeweils ublichen baulich-konstruktiven, gestalterisch-konzeptionellen oder energetisch-wirtschaftlichen Standard abweichen oder uber ihn hinausgehen.
100 Years Bauhaus. What Interest Do We Take In Modern Movement Today
The Bauhaus had a pioneering influence on design worldwide which still endures today. Through edu... more The Bauhaus had a pioneering influence on design worldwide which still endures today. Through education, experimentation and materialization, a revolution took place in the use of space, combining clarity, fluidity, functionality and beauty. The Weimar/Dessau school is remembered – from Gropius’ Weimar office to the Dessau masters’ houses, interiors and furniture – for its avant-garde approach to architecture, urbanism, and design for mass production and commercialization. While the objects it produced are its material legacy, the human body (or Oskar Schlemer’s “Human being”) was definitively at the centre of this experimental work. The unity between spirit and body spurred a quest into health, movement, hygiene, comfort, and rationality. The aim here is to demonstrate how this concept was achieved within a new use of space through innovative interior design. Materials and forms, as well as reinvigorated bodily awareness contributed to this transformation. The question is, how did Bauhaus’ “bodies” and “minds” challenge traditional ideas about daily life shaping the connection between physical and mental harmony. Using Gideon’s writings, namely “Mechanization takes command” and interior design case studies acquired in Japan, the goal of this paper is a threefold analysis: to explore the way the Bauhaus has inspired modern movement architecture up to the present day, to transform firstly space, and secondly, its use. Finally, the concept of the body: how Bauhaus ideas have migrated around the world to simultaneously promote a clear and hygienic aesthetic, connecting function and abstraction; to demonstrate, beyond das neue sachlichkeit, how one may realize the truth of Novalis’ metaphor: “the more poetic, the more truthful.”
Green walls and health: An umbrella review
Nature-based solutions, Dec 1, 2023
(UN-)sustainability of the concrete mega-blocks in New Belgrade: Potentials of prefabricated modern structures for transformation
15th International Docomomo Conference - Metamorphosis. The Continuity of Change / 20th-28th Augu... more 15th International Docomomo Conference - Metamorphosis. The Continuity of Change / 20th-28th August 2018, Cankarjev Dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia // 04 Housing in Transformation / Session Chair: Ana Tostões / (Un-)Sustainability of the concrete mega-blocks in New Belgrade: Potentials of prefabricated Modern structures for transformation (Anica Dragutinovic, Uta Pottgiesser & Els De Vos, Belgium)
Preferred reporting items in green space health research. Guiding principles for an interdisciplinary field
Environmental Research, Jul 1, 2023
Modern glass walls on the way to sustainability: Comparing examples from Germany and Brazil
AID-PRIGSHARE: Automatization of indicator development in green space health research in QGIS. Accompanying script to the PRIGSHARE reporting guidelines
Software impacts, May 1, 2023
Heritage matters: Building Envelope Improvements. Intervention Strategies for Post-War Modern Facades
Massive material cultures
An analysis tool to match home environmental interventions to the specific needs of people with Dementia
Integrating user awareness and behavior into building and product design for India: Survey in eight giant cities in India
Sustainable Development of High-Rise Residential Architecture from 1970-2014: Dubai Case Study on Modern Heritage
The Government of Dubai implemented Green Building Regulations & Specifications &... more The Government of Dubai implemented Green Building Regulations & Specifications & Specifications (GBRS). In March 2014. Dubai has more than 1000 high-rise buildings in which more than 2 million residents are accommodated. However, 62% of the existing residential high-rise buildings dating from 1970-2014 do not meet the requirements of the new GBRS. The paper suggests a sustainability plan framework for the modern heritage buildings in Dubai that satisfies the new building regulations. This will require the development of a new set of tools to adequately protect and keep the identity and heritage of the existing buildings instead of replacing them with new ones. In this context, several case studies are presented, analyzed and discussed to present the potential and the challenges of keeping these buildings.Many of the existing buildings built in the City of Dubai from 1970-2014 are part of the memory of the place and contribute to the story of Dubai’s development in the recent past. This research aims at protecting and documenting an important phase of the history of the urban development in the City of Dubai, highlighting the time period in which the initial principles that govern and guide the development of the city were developed. As part of Dubai modern heritage, the buildings under study have had a major impact on shaping the urban environment and crystallizing the architectural character of Dubai’s development in the 1970s and 1980s. Besides that, the headlong modernization of Dubai will eliminate all evidence of the city’s evolution. As a result, retrofitting of existing buildings should not only improve energy efficiency and performance but also keep theidentity and heritage of the City of Dubai instead of replacing buildings with new ones.Heritage & Technolog
ConCom and momove contributing to open science and education
The Conference and Communication (ConCom) course at the Detmold School of Architecture and Interi... more The Conference and Communication (ConCom) course at the Detmold School of Architecture and Interior Design (TH OWL) introduces students in the master‘s program to scientific work and pursues the goal of establishing a correlation between teaching and research. In particular, it is about conveying current knowledge and new findings in the form of the so-called non-written output (NWO) or non-traditional research output (NTRO). This diverse and low-threshold form of presentation increases the visibility of research findings and promotes their inclusive communication.In the academic year 2020/21, the ConCom course took up the topic of the 18th Docomomo Germany Conference “Modern Movement and Infrastructure”. The students were asked to interpret the previously researched topic of infrastructure (e.g. building services,nwater towers, power plants, electricity, cinemas, gas stations, kitchens, ...) for an exhibition accompanying the conference at the Bauhaus Dessau and to prepare it as multimedia exhibits – different from the usual poster presentations and papers. Complementing the contributions in the conference, ConCom served as a platform for students to explore Modern Movement’s (MoMo) achievements around the world, but also to explore digital tools and their applicability for communicating research results. On display are websites, apps, films as well as applications of 360 degree images, augmented and virtual reality and as such they are aiming to contribute to the Docomomo Virtual Exhibition - MoMove.Building on a literature review in the pre-semester, specific topics are selected and worked on in the context of scientific conferences. ConCom tests innovative teaching and learning formats at the intersection of scholarly research and outreach in the field of the built environment, with a particular focus on cultural heritage, digital technology, and their societal impact. This has enabled students to conduct cross-cultural and cross-sectoral research in interdisciplinary and international teams
A review of influences of modern movement architecture on today's façade design in tropical climate of India
Façade plays an important role in modern movement architecture and a critical role in the concept... more Façade plays an important role in modern movement architecture and a critical role in the conception of energy and climate-optimized buildings: it is the building's skin and functions as an interface between interior and exterior space. It provides thermal and sound insulation and ventilation, and controls and guides the entrance of daylight into the building. Tropical climates have unique challenges to reduce solar heat gain through building envelope to make buildings energy efficient. India has a rich tradition of different forms of architecture and design principles - most of them are perfectly adapted to the climatic requirements and constructed with local building materials and technology. In the twentieth century, Modern Movement Architecture shows a global trend towards transparent, light-flled buildings with great expanses of windows and façades with advanced building technology. However, the twentieth century modern movement architecture in India evolved in response to the climate and culture. In India, remarkably diverse constellations of façade design can be traced in modern architecture often taking into consideration traditional Indian principles combining them with new materials and constructions. Most of them marked by overhanging balconies and horizontal brise-soleils and as an example of a human scaled urban infrastructure offering private and public green spaces in transition. After independence in 1947 more public, administrative and governmental buildings followed in the tradition of the modern movement and with emblematic character. This paper presents a review of the influences of modern movement architecture on today's facade design in tropical climate of India. The purpose of this review is to reappraise works of the masters of the modern movement, in the context of today's energy and environmental value system; a value system which justifies a greater capital cost in money terms with a view to minimize recurrent costs in energy terms and environmental degradation
Low and mid frequency design - Implementation of room acoustics in different building types and for different kinds of use
In offices and most other working environments a high speech privacy and a low noise level is des... more In offices and most other working environments a high speech privacy and a low noise level is desired to allow for concentrated work and calm work conditions. Hence a low Speech Transmission Index (STI) is required, as even irrelevant speech information at lower volumes can be extremly disturbing and performance reducing. At the same time working environments demand for other often conflicting requirements such as transparency to ensure visual connections and daylight transmission, functional flexibility for diverse activities in the same space and for hygienic, environmental or security aspects. These requirements have to be balanced by a sensible and intelligent design and layout of absorbers and partition elements and partition. Three research projects investigated an optimised design of low and mid frequency absorbers for working environments to improve the acoustic and design quality of different products. Acoustically optimised indoor spaces may become more important in the future due to an increase of hearing impairments in the aging population as well as in the younger generations. This is seen not only as a technical but as a design challenge to balance optimised sound pressure levels, reverberation times and Speech Transmission Indices.
Mitigating mass housing obsolescence:: Reuse of common spaces Common spaces as a tactic for revitalizing mass housing and liveability
Development Plan Strategies of Old Aleppo City and Sustainable Development Goals: Between Theory and Practice
The Old City of Aleppo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, has been in... more The Old City of Aleppo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, has been inscribed on UNESCOs World Heritage List in 1986. In the early 1990s the Aleppo municipality initiated the project for the Rehabilitation of the Old City with the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) as a partner. As part of the process, a Development Plan was issued as a general framework including ten strategies for upgrading the historical urban fabric in line with the sustainable development. Despite implementation of these strategies, the physical fabric of the Old City has continued to deteriorate, and the demographic transition has continued to increase until the escalation of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. The paper analyses the development plans strategies in the Old City of Aleppo, mainly those related to housing aspects. It evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies based on the concept of good urban governance that intersects with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aiming to overcome the administrative gaps to rebuild the Old City more sustainably after the Syrian Civil War
Imagine: PROTOTYPING efn MOBILE
BK BOOKS, Feb 1, 2016
The Prototyping efn Mobile programme ‘emerging envelope’ develops innovative facade constructions... more The Prototyping efn Mobile programme ‘emerging envelope’ develops innovative facade constructions with international student teams of the European Facade Network (EFN). The inspiring energy of workshops and 1:1 mock-up buildings generates a plethora of new ideas for intelligent, adaptive and sustainable facades. From adaptive building envelopes to sustainable end-of-life concepts, from user-interacting building envelopes to low-budget facades for various climate zones, this book provides innovative ideas and intelligent solutions for future-proof facade design and construction. Imagine is a series of publications that investigates technology and material development to provide architects and designers with ideas for their designs.