Mühlenpfordt – New Contemporary Art Exhibition on the Prehistory of the "Braunschweig (Architecture) School"

The exhibition “Mühlenpfordt – Neue Zeitkunst” (Mühlenpfordt – New Contemporary Art) will be shown in the architecture pavilion of Technische Universität Braunschweig from 9 to 30 November 2022. On display are the biographical stages of Carl Mühlenpfordt and the focal points of his work between reform architecture and university teaching using contemporary designs, drawings and photographs.

The exhibition “Mühlenpfordt – Neue Zeitkunst” on the prehistory of the “Braunschweig (Architecture) School” will open at

Wednesday, 9 November 2022, at 18.00,
at the architecture pavilion of TU Braunschweig, Pockelsstr. 4.

Carl Mühlenpfordt (1878-1944) returns to his place of work in Braunschweig, where he worked at the Braunschweig Polytechnic after the end of the First World War. He reformed the architecture faculty into an educational institution that later became known as the “Braunschweiger Schule” ( Braunschweig School) through the network of his students. Today, the architect and university lecturer is largely unknown, although he called for a “New Contemporary Art” for the imperial era and the Weimar Republic – driven by a belief in continuity and a desire for reform. The exhibition and the accompanying book “Mühlenpfordt – Neue Zeitkunst. Reform Architektur und Hochschullehre” (Mühlenpfordt – New Contemporary Art. Reform Architecture and University Teaching) offer a multi-layered contextualisation of the architect’s life and work. Aspects of reform architecture and life reform are discussed, as are questions about the mood of reform architects in the early 20th century. Finally, a look at Mühlenpfordt points to the topicality of his search for identity in the built environment in current debates about the city and architecture of the future.

Framework programme

The framework programme offers, among other things, guided tours through the exhibition and to Mühlenpfordt’s formative buildings in the vicinity of TU Braunschweig.

• 9.11.22, at 18.00
  Vernissage
  Welcome (Prof. Dr. Ulrike Fauerbach, Institute of Building History)
  Greeting (Berthold Penkhues, Department Spokesperson Architecture)
  Introduction Mühlenpfordt – Neue Zeitkunst (PD Dr. Olaf Gisbertz, Institute of Building History)

• 14.11.22, at 18.00
  Talk show „Netzwerke“ der Architektur – Mühlenpfordt als Vorbild? (“Networks” of architecture – Mühlenpfordt as a role model?)
  Impulse: Klinker – Klüngel – Kalkzement (Clinker – Klüngel – Lime cement) (Simon Paulus)
  Impulse: Fabriken – Villen – Siedlungen (Factories – Villas – Settlements) (Arne Herbote)
  Impulse: Netzwerken heute (Networking today) (Jan Pingel)
  Moderation: Olaf Gisbertz

• 29.11.2022, at 18.30
  Evening lecture in the context of the exhibition “Mühlenpfordt – Neue Zeitkunst” (Mühlenpfordt – New Contemporary Art) Max Dudler – Geschichte weiterbauen (Architekturpositionen) (Building on History (Architectural Positions))

• 15.11.22 / 22.11.22 / 29.11.22, each at 12.30-14.00
  Lunchtime tours
  with the curators through the exhibition and to Mühlenpfordt’s characteristic buildings in the vicinity of TU Braunschweig.
  Meeting point, in each case at 12.30, in the exhibition, architecture pavilion TU Braunschweig. Please register with details of the above dates at: o.gisbertz@tu-braunschweig.de

• 30.11.2022, at 18.00
  Finissage
  Auction of exhibits/reproductions for the benefit of Weggefährten Braunschweig – Elternhilfe zur Unterstützung tumorkranker Kinder Braunschweig e.V.