Brutralism Virtual Conference - JUNE 2022

Welcome to our Second Virtual Conference on Brutalism

Wednesday, June 29, 2022 10:00 am to 16:00 pm (cest) 11:00 am – 17:00 israel time

Brutal Change

is a binational project between Israel and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, that deals with the brutalist building typologies of modernism.

Both Israel and North Rhine-Westphalia have an extensive heritage in the Brutalist style. However, these buildings and urban planning schemes are highly controversial. Experts in both countries have therefore begun to raise public awareness of the historical, aesthetic and social significance of these buildings and to engage in an open exchange. The handling of the objects for preservation and repurposing is also being investigated. What questions, requirements and opportunities arise in the course of redevelopment?

We would like to contribute to this

brutal change – a conference on the preservation, renovation and climate-efficient use of brutalist buildings.

The sustainable use of raw materials and resources, as well as of the building fabric in general, is a very current and important topic that is of enormous concern to the entire professional world, but also to building owners and users. Experts will report from the perspective of building research and restoration, conversion culture as well as material research and preservation of historical monuments. The aim is to draw attention to an architecture that is often criticised and whose conversion and restoration often seems to be resisted. But why is this the case and what opportunities are there in addressing it?

Exciting experts from Israel and Germany will share their expertise with us. In discussions, lectures, and roundtables we will learn more about similarities and differences of German and Israeli Brutalism.

The Conference will be the sequel of a multi-year exchange program on building culture in both countries.

Among the speakers

Dr.stephan Holthoff - Pförtner

Minister for Federal and European Affairs and International Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

Prof. Isaac A. Meir

Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Gil Yaron

Director - Office of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia for Economy, Science, Education, Youth and Culture in Israel

Peter Köddermann

Managing Director Program Baukultur Nordrhein-Westfalen

Prof. Christoph Grafe

University of Wuppertal

Dr. Karin Berkemann

Theologian and art historian M.A. Curator of the Dalman Collection at the University of Greifswald

Arch. Anat Barlovitch

Representing Planning Administration- National Conservation team

Prof. Daniel Lohmann

Professor of Architectural History and Design at TH Köln

Tamar Tuchler

Vice President and Director of the Tel Aviv District and the International Relations Department, the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel

Dr. Hadas Shadar

Urban planner, researcher of public housing patterns

V.Prof. Dr. Alexandra Apfelbaum

Chair of the board of the Initiative Ruhrmoderne and the Deutscher Werkbund NRW

Dr. Martin Bredenbeck

Inventory department at LVR Office for Monument Preservation in the Rhineland

Arch. Rotem Zeevi

Director of the building conservation department, Beer Sheva Municipality

Arch. Sharon Golan

Content Manager, LEIBLING HOUSE

Arch. Moshe Shapiro

Israel Planning Administration

Arch. Amnon Rechter

Arch. Dana Gordon

Dr. Jeremie Hoffman

Heritage Conservation Israel

Arch. Ariel Goshen

Goshen Architects

Prof. Dipl. Ing. Yasemin Utku

Urban planner and architect, University of Cologne

Brutal Change Agenda

11:00am-5:00pm – Israeli time

*To download and print the agenda, click here

Conference Hall

Brutalistic Architecture – Global Issues

11:00 am

Welcoming and Introduction
Dr. Karin Berkemann, moderator

11:10 am

About the project

Dr. Gil Yaron Director – Office of the State of NRW for Economy, Science, Education, Youth and Culture in Israel
Peter Köddermann Managing Director Program Baukultur Nordrhein-Westfalen
Rotem Zevi Managing Director of the Department of Conservation in Be’er Sheva Municipality

11:25 am

Greetings

Dr. Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner Minister for Federal and European Affairs and International Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia

Tamar Tuchler Vice President and Director of the International Relations Department, the Council for Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel

Anat Barlovitch Planning Administration

11:37 am

Keynote. The Rediscovery of Brutalist Architecture in Germany
Dr. Karin Berkemann

12:05 pm

Brutalist architecture: definition, period and characteristics
Dr. Jeremie Hoffman, Heritage Conservation Israel

12:30 am – Break 15 Minutes

12:45 pm

Monumental heritage – Dealing with brutalist architecture?

12:50 pm

Brutalism as a subject of monument protection. How to reason and preserve its characteristics
Dr. Martin Bredenbeck
Monument preservation Rhineland

1:10 pm

Rechter’s Brutalist buildings in Tel Aviv
Amnon Rechter & Dana Gordon

1:25 pm

Joint discussion with Dr. Bredenbeck, Amnon Rechter, Dana Gordon and Questions via Chat

1:40 pm – Break 30 Minutes

2:10 pm

Brutalist architecture – adaptive reuse

2:15 pm

Umbaukultur – adaptive reuse of post-war architectural heritage
Prof. Christoph Grafe, University of Wuppertal

2:35 pm

Brutalist architecture in the Negev Desert: A critical climatic perspective
Prof. Isaac Meir, Israel

2:50 pm

Joint discussion with Prof. Grafe, Prof. Meir and Questions via Chat

3:05 pm – Break 10 Minutes

3:15 pm

Brutalist architecture – a challenge for communication

3:20 pm

University Buildings: Space for Education
The Ruhr-University Bochum
Prof. Dr. Alexandra Apfelbaum

3:40 pm

Brutalism in student discourse
Prof. Dr. Daniel Lohmann, Technische Hochschule Cologne

4:00 pm

Big beautiful Buildings?
Peter Köddermann, Baukultur NRW

4:15 pm

Joint discussion with Prof. Lohmann, Peter Köddermann and Questions via Chat

4:30 pm

Short reflection, thanks and good bye
Gil Yaron, Peter Köddermann, Rotem Zevi

5:00 pm – END

11:00	Welcome by Dr. Karin Berkemann (Moderation)
11:05	Opening and greetings from the partners Dr. Markus Speich, State Secretary for Federal and European Affairs and International Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia Dr. Gil Yaron, Office of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia for Economy, Science, Education, Youth and Culture in Israel Peter Köddermann, Management Program Baukultur NRW (Commitment has been received) Tamar Tuchler, Management Department of Conservation in Be’er Sheva Municipality Moderation Dr. Karin Berkemann (Commitment has been received)
11:30	A critical view of brutalist large-scale architecture from an urban planning perspective and with reference to possibilities of reconstruction
	Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Sonne, TU Dortmund (Commitment has been received)
	The Old and the Bad? Israeli Brutalism Revisited Dr. Zvi Elhyani, Founding Director of the Israel Architecture Archive Michael Jacobson, Architect and Geographer
13:00	Break and Live Music
13:15	Evaluation of building processes and voices from the field on climate-efficient building methods and the link between energy efficiency/sustainability and brutalism, best practice
	NRW Klaus Dorsch, Faktor X (Commitment has been received)
	Jerusalem in the Israeli era – conservation of brutal, postmodern and experimental architectural and other sights Uri Padan
15:00	Break and Live Music
15:30	What criteria must Brutalist architecture fulfill for preservation and conversion?
	NRW Brandschutz Kirchner, Ingenieurkammer Bau NRW (Final commitment still pending) The conversion and realignment of Marl Town Hall, Jan Bakema. A perspective from the process. Sebastian Helm, HPP Architekten (Commitment has been received)
	Retrofit: The sustainable use of historical buildings Rotem Zevi, Head of the Conservation Department at the Beer Sheva Engineering Administration
16:30	Closing words Dr. Gil Yaron Peter Köddermann
17:00	End

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Registration

* Registration for the conference is free of charge. After registering, you will receive a registration confirmation and login details will be sent by email

The recognition as an educational event has been applied for at the Chamber of Architects of North Rhine-Westphalia