FORM FOLLOWS ENERGY

Against the predominant background of global warming, rapidly diminishing energy resources, exponential population growth, increasing geopolitical instabilities resulting from the uncertainty of the future energy supply situation together with the fact that buildings are responsible for at least 40% of the world's energy consumption, good architecture is not possible without a good energy concept.

Buildings represent a large part of what is probably one of the biggest problems of our society - namely the fair distribution of the resources available to us. Architecture can therefore be a major part of the solution. Never before has this discipline been offered a comparable opportunity to play such a central role in the history of mankind. Good architecture is always a concrete expression of the cultural values, priorities and hopes of a society. But now it can also provide the physical answer to this existential challenge.

By definition, sustainable development cannot be accompanied by a simultaneous loss of architectural quality in our built environment. A building with little architectural quality and a good energy concept therefore makes no real contribution to a sustainable future. Research and teaching at the IGE focuses on maximizing the energy performance of buildings and cities and developing architectural and urban design projects that are inherently highly energy efficient by optimizing their shape and structure.