Design Studio 
Cooperation with Specialisation: Structures for building envelopes (ITE)
Exercise in 7-9. Semester (Master)

Lukas Imhof
Patrick Pazdzior

Squaring The Roof
Spanning Andreas Hofer Platz

Andreas Hofer Platz: historically complex and defined by movement and transit. Here, bus lines intersect, people wait, change buses, and disappear again. The assignment is to create a roof for this place—an infrastructure that offers protection and forms a public space. The roof is complemented by small-scale uses. Simple constructions, intelligent structural design, and a high level of detail are central.

We do not design linearly from urban planning to detail. We use images as a recursive design and construction tool, oscillating between scales, different media, and references from architectural history. The design process is accompanied by the ITE's specialization module “Load-bearing structures for building envelopes.” The bus lanes, neighboring building, and the underground garage below set the parameters that call for sophisticated solutions.
With remixes of historical and contemporary architectural images, we seek to capture the atmosphere and translate it into constructible architecture. Renderings, AI-generated and hand-drawn images – large scale and small detail – make construction and expression the central focus. We undertake a school of vision and examine constructive design as a back-and-forth between scales and media.

Topic presentation Feb. 26., from 9am, HS B Kopernikusgasse 24, 3. OG