Green stripes on the floor and a label indicate the emerging getTUgether zones. But what is behind them?

Open spaces for more creativity and encounters - that's what the getTUgether zones on the TU Dresden campus will stand for in the future. Exhibitions, yoga classes, information booths and swap meets - getTUgether zones are points of encounter for a lively, cosmopolitan campus.

The idea for the getTUgether zones was born some time ago

Under the direction of the Institute of Landscape Architecture (Prof. Irene Lohaus), a master plan for campus design was developed together with the Institute of Transportation Planning and Road Traffic (Prof. Regine Gerike) and the Department of Facility Management. The master plan defines the framework for the future development of the outdoor areas on the central campus, placing the many individual initiatives and measures in an overall context. In addition to the barrier-free guidance and orientation system, a test track for the ground design has already been created. The latest project to be tackled from the Campus Design Master Plan is the getTUgether Zones.

These will be open spaces that can be used in a variety of ways and will have electricity. The TU website will make it quick and easy to register for use, initially for university employees. Depending on whether an exhibition, event, open-air slam or sporting activities such as course events are taking place: thanks to the power connection, loudspeakers, lighting or other technology can be used. The areas will also be available for versatile gastronomic ideas (food trucks, ice cream bar, or similar) in the future.

During the development process, landscape architecture students first considered design options for the previously gray asphalt surfaces. Based on these ideas, a university-wide naming competition was announced in the summer of 2021. The winner was getTUgether zone.

© Tamara Jackoby

A first step for the design of the open spaces is now the marking and an adapted greening at the lecture hall center. In the coming months, a design for a media stele will emerge, to be fabricated next spring. As soon as the stelae are produced, the areas will be tried out by the artistic groups of the TU Dresden: With concerts, a theater play or by selling long drinks. In a further step, the electronic booking system will be activated, which is already being worked on diligently. The two open spaces at the HSZ and at the Günther-Landgraf-Bau are the pilots for the getTUgether zones that will be established at other locations on campus in the future.