Beate Diederichs

The brothers Ansgar and Benedikt Schulz have shared the professorship for design and construction I at the TUD's Architecture Faculty for around two years. Holding a professorship together is a future model for her. “As a dual leadership, we are flexible and thus have more opportunities to work practically as architects in addition to teaching. That is very important to us. Because if you want to teach architecture you have to design and build yourself, ”says Benedikt Schulz, the younger of the two professors. Ansgar and Benedikt Schulz were born in the proverbial cradle of architecture: »Our father built houses and often spoke at the dining table at home about how things went on the construction site. Sometimes he also took us there after school. We then saw how he directed an army of people so successfully that a house gradually emerged from the initial disorder, ”says Benedikt Schulz, reminiscing about his childhood in Witten, near Dortmund and Bochum. He was born there in 1968, his brother Ansgar two years earlier. The Schulz brothers learned during their studies at the RWTH Aachen University and during study periods abroad that the self-image of an architect also includes a design requirement in addition to the pure building implementation.

How to share a professorship

During their studies they founded the »Schulz und Schulz« office based in Leipzig. And together. »We slipped into the architecture relatively at the same time and wanted to see if the close collaboration worked. This was definitely the case, «reports the younger of the two architects. »Schulz und Schulz« designed highly acclaimed projects such as the Schalke 04 club site in Gelsenkirchen or the new construction of the St. Trinitatis church in Leipzig. From 2010 to 2018, the two researched and taught at the University of Dortmund. They jointly headed the Chair for Building Construction at the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering and thus formed Germany's first dual leadership in a professorship. About two years ago they jointly took over the professorship for design and construction I at the Faculty of Architecture at the TU Dresden. »We have been working together for 28 years. Even if we don't always agree, that has become a matter of course for us, «report Ansgar and Benedikt Schulz.

The work is shared fairly

The two professors do not have any roles. Instead, they try to divide up the work fairly. "We do beautiful things together as much as possible, when things are unpleasant, everyone takes on an equal share," comments Ansgar Schulz. Everyone is good at something that doesn't suit the other. Ideally, they complement each other to create an architect. They follow this principle when teaching or researching, writing textbooks or acting as reviewers and consultants. »We often decide shortly beforehand which Mr Schulz is coming to an event. We always say: A Mr. Schulz will definitely show up «, say the professors. When they work together, they also like to use their dialogue on the relevant topic as a didactic tool. The students usually react very positively: "When we said goodbye in Dortmund, a student representative said that he was quite impressed that we had never contradicted each other, although Ansgar taught in week A and I taught week B," said Benedikt Schulz. According to their impression, the university management also appreciates that the two professors share the professorship. “Architects often work in a team anyway and are therefore familiar with this approach. We got to know this form of organization a few years ago in Switzerland. We were pioneers at TU Dresden, but there is now a second shared professorship. Two people work together there who are also privately connected as life partners, «says Ansgar Schulz. Designing and building houses is still important to them. "If you want to teach the house-building procedure, you have to build houses yourself, otherwise you lose the connection." As dual leaders, they are flexible in terms of time and organization, for example to design projects such as the Mother of Pearl and Local History Museum in Adorf in Vogtland, which they recently did have won the Europe-wide tender. In short: for Schulz and Schulz, the shared professorship is a model that will have a future. Ansgar and Benedikt Schulz want to work together to set specific accents within their future model: Firstly, it is important to them that the future architects learn to combine creative design with well-organized execution, i.e. to combine the work with the drawing board, computer and model with the actual construction process, in which the work of the architect is combined with the work of a civil engineer.

Architecture needs new spaces

Then they would like to bring the subject in Dresden further up the Germany rankings. Thirdly, in the long term, they want to remedy the problem that the architecture at TUD has very few work spaces compared to other universities. “People have to work on projects in teams. For this they absolutely need these rooms, «says Benedikt Schulz. The studio of the two professors, where they design and organize parallel to their work at the TUD, is in Leipzig on Lake Zwenkau. For Schulz and Schulz, the landscape with water and charming surroundings not only offers a working environment, but also a place to relax: unlike in architecture, everyone has their own area: Ansgar Schulz, married and father of three, devotes himself to cycling and clay pigeon shooting. Benedikt Schulz, who is divorced, now lives in a new partnership and has a daughter, sails and prepares for regattas.