The Frankfurt Prototype

The Frankfurt Prototype is a pilot project that aims for the first time to combine the teaching of architecture and art to combine the potentials of both disciplines: for a more contemporary teaching and research at the Städelschule.

A small public market hall on the first floor, living and working spaces for students on the second floor and a large green shelf extension form the experimental building “The Frankfurt Prototype”, which will be on public display for 3 months, starting October 2nd, in the courtyard of the Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut and Naturmuseum Frankfurt. It was designed by students of the Städelschule and the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (UAS) together with engineers and architects as well as researchers from the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung. 

The project focuses on developing novel typologies of affordable, sustainable housing that encourage new forms of living, working and spending time together in times of climate crisis and a fundamental change in the use of public space and the city. The “Frankfurt Prototype” is developed under the auspices of the Lord Mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main, Mike Josef.

The base has been built of salvaged old steel, the living units above with used formwork wood, to keep CO2 emissions of the construction work as low as possible. The small market hall, a “public living room” on the first floor of the “Frankfurt Prototype, can become a theater stage, an exhibition venue or an actual market where sustainable agricultural products will be offered. The upper floors consists of modular, prefabricated residential units that are covered with used formwork wood; unlike usual containers they can be flexibly interconnected to accommodate various forms of use. The Prototype will also be home the “Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan (CCAA) in Exile”, an initiative of Afghan painter and former director of the CCAA, Rahraw Omarzad, who lives in exile near Frankfurt with twenty of his students. A “green urban filter” presents the students' more radical visions of a life with and in nature.

The current programme, with guided tours, talks and screenings, will be announced in the calendar and on the Städelschule's Blackboard.

Building-owner

KEG Konversions-Grundstücksentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH

Partners

Arup, Barkow Leibinger (Consultancy and Planning), Schneider+Schumacher Architekten (Construction Management), Hormazd Vakharia – "Village studio" (Design Development & Construction Coordination), Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Senckenberg Gesellschaft, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum in Frankfurt (Research and Location) and Tischlerei Voigt.

Supporters                 

The Frankfurt Prototype is made possible by the generous support of the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, LOEWE-Exploration 5. Significant support is provided by Heinz und Gisela Friederichs Stiftung, Schöpflin Stiftung, and Crespo Foudation. The project is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Additional support has been provided by Bernd Meÿ, Städelschule Portikus e.V. and Stiftung ohne Titel, 2016.

Team

Prof. Daniel Birnbaum, Dr. Niklas Maak and Yara von Lindequist

Larry Adorkor, Raul Itamar Lima Aguilar, Kathrin Bernard, Aayush Bhaskar, Elisaveta Braslavskaja, Shivam Chaudhary, Olena Chumachenko, Jiyoon Chung, Gabriele Ciulli, Nathaniel Frempong, Uma Nerea Kim Gomez, Aerin Hong, Louise Dvr, Sophiko Kashakashvili, Golnaz Khosrawani, Stuti Maaheshmati Mohapatra, Rosa Elisa Nitzsche, Miyuki Oka, Aline Rainer, Laila Zaidi Touis, Siyu Tian, Gintare Sokelyte, Simon Sutcliffe, Hormazd Vakharia, Jacek Vasina, Su Xia.

Lukas Weder and Nicolai Jasper (Barkow Leibinger), Hormazd Vakharia – "Village studio" (Design Development & Construction Coordination), Andreas Zahn and Elmar Lorey (Schneider+Schumacher), Professor Heinrich Lessing and students of the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.

Contact

Yara Lindequist
Project Coordinator
yara.lindequist@staedelschule.de