Diploma / Specialisation
Winter semester 2025/26
DIPLOM
Free topics
Supervision: Prof. Ansgar Schulz, Prof. Benedikt Schulz, Christian Wischalla
Registration: The dates of the Examination Office apply. Registration possible by e-mail
Winter semester 2025/26
IN-DEPTH DESIGN
Dance House Hellerau
Module no.: AD 911
Supervision: Prof. Ansgar Schulz, Prof. Benedikt Schulz, Christian Wischalla
Dresden played a central role in the development of progressive expressive dance in Germany in the early 20th century. The starting point was the combination of reformist pedagogical ideas, artistic experimentation and urban planning commitment, which found its most visible expression in the garden city of Hellerau. The Festspielhaus Hellerau in particular became an international magnet for dance, music and movement. Under the direction of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, a new pedagogical approach was developed here that closely combined music and rhythmic movement. The school in Hellerau was the first educational institution to systematically teach this method, attracting artists from all over Europe.
Today, Dresden's role in the history of expressive dance is honored in research and contemporary dance practice. The historical legacy, which was particularly shaped by Hellerau, forms the basis for festivals, workshops and international collaborations that continue progressive expressive dance while keeping the connection between dance, pedagogy and artistic experimentation alive. The artistic vision of conveying emotion, personality and community through movement continues to shape aesthetic and educational practice in Dresden to this day.
The design brief includes an outstanding architectural addition on the site of the Festspielhaus Hellerau with a new dance house. We encourage you to develop creative solutions as to how the area around the Festspielhaus can make its performances more accessible to the public with your building design. The performance and rehearsal spaces should be designed to accommodate different dance forms and types of performance. These spaces are used for both rehearsal and performance and should have a special architectural appearance and supporting structure. The aim is to develop an individual, wide-span supporting structure in combination with steel as a building material. Combinations of materials with other materials are possible as well as a pure supporting structure made of steel.
Registration: via selma
Summer semester 2025
DIPLOM
Free topics
Supervision: Prof. Ansgar Schulz, Prof. Benedikt Schulz, Gerhard Heise, Christian Wischalla
Registration: The dates of the Examination Office apply. Registration possible by e-mail
Summer semester 2025
IN-DEPTH DESIGN
Theater Maastricht
Module no.: AD 911
Supervision: Prof. Ansgar Schulz, Prof. Benedikt Schulz, Gerhard Heise, Christian Wischalla
The Theater aan het Vrijthof is now a multifunctional building that serves as a concert hall and theater. The program is very wide-ranging and includes opera, musicals, classical and world music, jazz, ballet, modern dance, theater and cabaret. It currently only has two theaters, which is disproportionate to the size of the city's cultural life and cultural ambitions. There is a lack of a suitable stage on which amateur and professional artists can reinforce each other. Smaller productions are currently "drowning" in the large Papyrus Hall or are too cramped in the upper hall. The theater has therefore decided to create a multifunctional central hall.
As the theater is located in the city center, in the protected cityscape, its integration must be done carefully. The existing theater itself is too small to accommodate an additional auditorium. Two plots of land were therefore purchased to create this new so-called "Middenzaal" and an additional loading and unloading facility. Existing parts of the building and buildings on Statenstraat will be demolished, rebuilt and redesigned. The former rehearsal hall of the "philharmonie zuidnederland", including the adjoining rooms and offices, will be largely dismantled and the neighboring building at Statenstraat 9 will also be demolished to make room for a fully-fledged hall. The adjacent monument at Statenstraat 11 will be attached to the theater and redesigned to create space for related functions. In the end, the theater on the Vrijthof thus had three halls: the Great Hall (Papyrus Hall) with 915 seats, a Middle Hall with 350 seats and the Small Hall (Upper Hall) with 110 seats. It should be possible to program the Papyrus Hall, the Middle Hall and the Upper Hall simultaneously. An important part is the architectural enhancement and revitalization of the exterior and façade, as well as the appropriate design of the new part of the building in the overall streetscape of Statenstraat.
The additional space in the premises of Statenstraat 11 also offers the possibility of separating the walkways in the theater to the Central Hall from the audience in the Papyrus Hall. This will create a safer situation that is appropriate for the larger number of visitors that need to be accommodated in the theater at the same time. The current audience and artist foyer of the theater is too small to accommodate the visitors and artists of the Central Hall.
Statenstraat 11 will create space. The additional space available should make it possible to adequately accommodate artists, companies and the audience of the Central Hall. The space required for this can be sought in this building and a possible extension on the adjacent flat roofs, as indicated in the space balance. Creative ways must be found to create sufficient space and to develop it logically.
Registration: via selma