Architect Oswald Mathias Ungers would have celebrated his 100th birthday in 2026. Among his many achievements worth remembering—especially at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum, which he designed—is the conference on architectural theory that he initiated at the Technical University of Berlin in 1967.
The 1967 conference emerged from discussions surrounding the establishment of what was intended to become the first chair of architectural theory at the Technical University of Berlin. To explore this question, Ungers brought together a group of potential candidates alongside established scholars and asked what architectural theory was—and what role it could play within a faculty of architecture. In fact, the first chair of architectural theory at the Technical University of Berlin was not established until 1993. Despite considerable protest, the chair is being abolished in 2026.
Now, nearly sixty years after the original event, we will revisit and reread the 1967 conference while tracing the development of architectural theory up to the present day. This also means examining its omissions and blind spots. Which positions that were not represented at the time should be taken into account in light of what we know today?
The symposium is organized by the DAM – Deutsches Architekturmuseum and the CCSA – Center for Critical Studies in Architecture, generously supported by the Wüstenrot Foundation and in collaboration with the DFG-funded Research Training Group “Organizing Architectures”.
For the detailed program please klick here.
The event will be held in English. Questions from the audience may also be asked in German; we will be happy to translate them for our international guests.
The symposium was organized by the ATK67 group jointly run by DAM / CCSA:
Sarah Borree, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Chris Dähne, TU Darmstadt / HfG Ulm Archives
Christina Clausen, TU Darmstadt / LOEWE project Architectures of Order
Teresa Fankhänel, DAM
Oliver Elser, DAM
Christiane Fülscher, Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Daniela Grotz, LOEWE project Architectures of Order
Jorun Jensen, DAM / TU Darmstadt
Frederike Lausch, ENSA Grenoble
Anna-Maria Meister, KIT Karlsruhe / Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence – Max Planck Institute
Carsten Ruhl, Goethe University Frankfurt
Daniela Ortiz dos Santos, Goethe University Frankfurt
Location:
Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Schaumainkai 43, 60596 Frankfurt am Main
Participation fee: museum admission (€12 per day; reduced rate €7; students and CCSA affiliates are admitted free of charge).
No pre-registration required.
The symposium has been accredited with 16 education credits by the Chamber of Architects and Urban Planners of Hesse (AKH).
Contact: oliver.elser@stadt-frankfurt.de