“Tropenbau” – Building the Tropics into the Curriculum

In the 1950s and 1960s, various initiatives at European universities on both sides of the Iron Curtain gave rise to scientific working groups, institutes, and postgraduate programs, all bearing different names, such as Tropenbau, Tropical Architecture, Building in Developing Countries, and Human Settlements, among others. These initiatives often emerged from the dedication of individuals and emerging researchers. The term “institute” assumed a range of interpretations and embraced diverse facets. How did the processes of institutionalization unfold? What sources of funding supported them? What collaborations were forged with national and international actors in development politics, the construction industry, as well as regional and urban planning? Who underwent training, in what manner, and for what specific purposes? Furthermore, what was the external representation of these working groups, institutes, and postgraduate programs, and how was their work perceived?
The lecture series is part of the research seminar on the history of the Instituts (Arbeitsgruppe) für Tropisches Bauen at the former TH Darmstadt, organized by Adrian Franco and Frederike Lausch in the winter semester 2023/24. The lecture series is a collaboration between the Institute of Modern History and the Institute of History of Architecture and Art at TU Darmstadt, and is sponsored by the Vereinigung von Freunden der Technischen Universität zu Darmstadt e.V.

9 November 2023 (Thursday), 6 pm (online)
[ENG]
“Tropical Architecture Made in Bavaria? Lippsmeier+Partner and Institute for Building in the Tropics”
Rachel Lee (Delft University of Technology) and Monika Motylinska (Leibniz-Institut für Raumbezogene Sozialforschung)

23. November 2023 (Donnerstag), 18 Uhr (hybrid)
[DE]
TU Darmstadt Lichtwiese L3|01 R 437 (4. OG Nordost)
„Vom ‚Tropischen Bauen‘ zur ‚Internationalen Urbanistik‘: Anmerkungen zum ‚Development Planning‘ in Deutschland“
Dan Teodorovici (Universität Stuttgart)
anschließend Zeitzeugengespräch mit Jörg Sierig (Mitgründer des Instituts (Arbeitsgruppe) für Tropisches Bauen an der TH Darmstadt)

7 December 2023 (Thursday), 6 pm (online)
[ENG]
“Forms, Institutions, Resources: Crafting an Operational Framework at the Post Graduate Centre Human Settlements, Leuven, 1970-80s”
Sebastiaan Loosen (ETH Zurich)

8 January 2024 (Monday), 6 pm (online)
[ENG]
“Researching and Building from, for and within the ‘Socialist Tropics’: Exploring Networks, Institutionalization, and the Role of the Institute for ‘Tropen- und Auslandsbau’ in the GDR”
Juliane Richter (Bauhaus-University Weimar)

The online talks will take place via zoom:
https://tu-darmstadt.zoom-x.de/meeting/register/u5YtfuytqDIjG9akx4PUKVei8ILlU7r3D0Cd

Contact:
lausch@kunst.tu-darmstadt.de
adrian.franco@stud.tu-darmstadt.de