Live on air

Friday’s monthly “Umweltmagazin” (environmental magazine) broadcast on ‘Radio X’, Frankfurt’s local radio station, tackled the topic how one might go about transforming existing buildings, rather than demolishing them and building again from scratch. What is the purpose of architecture? From today’s perspective, how should we assess existing buildings? Here, the programme presenter Otto Gebhardt, interviews Astrid Wuttke, a partner at schneider+schumacher, as well as Miriam Rabmund who is involved in “Architects for Future”, which has formulated ten demands for the construction industry. The need to “critically question demolition” is discussed in the programme, using the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt as an example.

Astrid Wuttke was a member of the validation team examining the future of the city’s theatre and opera complex, the Städtische Bühnen, which schneider+schumacher undertook on behalf of the City of Frankfurt, with the aim of critically scrutinising the revised 2017 feasibility study. Her article on transforming the Städtischen Bühnen forms part of a book project  entitled ‘Zoltan Kemenys Frankfurter Wolkenfoyer – Entstehung und Zukunft einer gefährdeten Raumkunst’ (Zoltan Kemeny’s Frankfurt Cloud Foyer – The origin and future of an endangered space) published in 2022 by Prof. Philipp Oswalt/University of Kassel for the Initiative Zukunft Bühnen Frankfurt.

The radio programme also addressed the topic of building materials: Astrid Wuttke commented on how remarkable it is that, these days, so much is being planned and built with wood. There is also an increasing demand for this from builders – which was not the case a few years ago.

The programme is available here:

Photo above: Birgit Hupfeld