Science Centre for Green Genetic Engineering in Quedlinburg

Ref.: 114
Área temática: 04 Sin asignar
Fecha de recepción: 14/11/2008

AUTORES (* Autor principal)

Schuster, Wolfgang * - Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus (Alemania)

EVALUACIÓN FINAL DEL COMITÉ CIENTÍFICO: Pendiente

ABSTRACT

World heritage sites are special cases of urban development. Conflicts between protection and use of historical sites are in the nature of things. Not avoidance of these conflicts, but productive dealing with them is a sign of quality of building culture. In recent times, on almost all world heritage sites in Germany, conflicts have arisen hardly any of which has passed over the manifold ideological traps mounted by both preservation of historical monuments and architecture in their standardized argumentations.
Against this backdrop, we had set a diploma task to our graduands in architecture at the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus which dealt with the future of the world heritage town of Quedlinburg which is not threatened today by decay, but by depopulation. It was intended to launch consciously a contemporaneous development in a historical context.
Quedlinburg is a town with a cultural-historically valuable past: Due to its historical importance for the early political development of Central Europe and its architectural excellence as medieval timber frame settlement, the town has been added to the list of world heritage sites. But Quedlinburg is also a town facing huge problems in the present: More and more people emigrate and leave a shrinking town behind, which is almost not able to properly maintain its heritage itself any longer. The weight of tourism doesn't counterbalance the burden of maintenance yet. Quedlinburg needs a new perspective far beyond the status as world heritage site which is exclusively orientated to the past.

Such a perspective is to be given by a Science Centre for green genetic engineering in Quedlinburg the design of which was the task set to the graduands. Genetical modification of plants ­ in order to increase the global earnings in production of food ­ as well as the question about natural growth or shrinking aids for plants are topics of public discussion and requiring clarification. More information on these topics will encourage the quest for ethically correct solutions even more. Following the more than two hundred year old tradition of seed growing in Quedlinburg and taking into account the activities of the local Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, we hold the opinion that a building should be developed which gives a platform and an expression to the topics of seed growing and genetic engineering.

The historical town of Quedlinburg is a crossing point of current political, cultural and social discourses. An exposition of diploma projects and a colloquium scheduled for the end of January 2009 shall facilitate a general overview of these public dialogues in order to develop a vision for the future of the town. Within the scope of the meeting, it is provided to discuss about development options of world heritage sites and conflicts between contemporaneous architecture and historical urban landscapes based on diploma projects and specialized lectures.

Four propositions shall be used as stimulus for discussion:

1) The idea of world heritage site is originally due to a need of protection, but it is increasingly used as marketing label. World heritage is an event today. What consequences does this development have for historical towns?
2) Quedlinburg has a valuable past and is a world heritage site. The present however is characterized by no future. Is contemporaneous architecture as supplementary event able to further develop the world heritage site?
3) In the modern era, architecture was linked to social utopia. In the postmodern era, it has become a picture. Today, architecture is an event. Which consequences does this development have for building culture?
4) During construction works in historical towns, the question of integration always arises. In the modern era, historical buildings came face to face with contemporaneous architecture. Today, historicizing buildings are integrated into historical contexts as a rule. How can these two ahistorical approaches be adopted?

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

- Planungsgrundlagen für Welterbestätten (Planning Bases for World Heritage Places).
In : Ä&K, Booklet 10/02.
- Umnutzung von Glienicke (Use for New Purposes of Glienicke).
In : WHS Report 30 Year World Heritage, 7/02.
- China nach der Vierbande, ein Reisebericht (China after the four-gang, a report on a journey).
In : Catalog to the China Exibition of the Technical University of Darmstadt , 1979.