Visions for a social meeting place

HAWK students develop plans for the remodelling of a primary school sports hall

The development of a new social meeting point for students in the gymnasium of the former Hohnsen primary school. This was the task that the students of the International Studio at the Faculty of Design of HAWK in Hildesheim took on. Among the participants in this module were also 12 exchange students from the Faculty of Building and Preservation as well as the Faculty of Design, who contributed their experiences.

Extremely practical: The students had the right contacts right in front of them. They presented their ideas to Prof. Katja Scholz-Bürig, Vice President for Studies and Teaching, Annika Tiefel, Head of the International Office at HAWK, Christopher Machold, also from the International Office, and Sonja Mußmann, Head of HAWK Building Management. The students presented their designs primarily using scale models that were carefully crafted. In the processing, the extensive preservation of the building fabric, the reuse of existing components, and the integration of additional components from various component exchanges in the German-speaking area played a central role. This is intended to enable an ecological implementation with the shortest possible transport routes.

Presentation of the group Box x Box

Presentation in front of the group

The International Studio is a course format that has been in existence for over ten years. Under the guidance of Dipl.-Ing. Pia Danner, Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Kauertz, and Prof. Günter Weber, students in this entirely English-speaking and interdisciplinary course work on current construction projects. The participants are exchange students who came this semester from Canada, Spain, Finland, Japan, Turkey, and Switzerland, as well as German students from the Faculty of Design in the field of Interior Architecture and from the Faculty of Building and Preservation in the Architecture program. Mixed groups of international and HAWK students from the fields of architecture and interior design worked on interdisciplinary projects.

The offer is a response to the increasing internationalisation of higher education offerings and the corresponding demand for English-language courses by international students. For German students, the course offers the opportunity to train intercultural competence and language skills, as well as to establish contacts with partner universities and exchange information with them.