Garage facilities from GDR times are a rather unnoticed building typology. Through the lense of preservation and architectural, social, and archaeological methods this archetypical phenomenon serves as a testimony of social conditions, condensed history and cultural values that were prevalent throughout the second half of the past century.
500.000 of these garages still exist today, shaping the urban landscape of many East German cities and villages. They are often preserved in their original state including associated infrastructural elements. Erected autonomously and out of necessity by self-organized associations on leased public property, they are nowadays subject of legal disputes.
The seminar “Preservation Studio: The Garage Manifesto” portraits the phenomenon in the form of a manifesto with ten case studies from Cottbus, each in short texts, drawings and photographs. The exhibition shows the manifesto in a study-like situation with a small reference library on the subjects raised in the seminar. The work is understood as a contribution to the contemporary, experimental preservation discourse, that promotes the understanding of preservation as a creative act and as participatory social practice.
The Garage Manifesto
Brandenburgische Technische Universität (BTU) Cottbus-Senftenberg
Department of Architectural Conservation, Prof. Dr. phil. Leo Schmidt
Winterterm 2016/17
Instructors: Luise Rellensmann, Jens Casper
Authors: Luise Rellensmann, Jens Casper, Rebecca Galley, Martin Henseler, Laura Hernandez, Nora Kokert, Melanie Kuhnlein, Lasse Schmalfuß, Justyna Sielska, Hanna Strahl, Zhuoyou (Zoey) Teng, Pawel Tucholski, Moritz Unger, Gerburg Brilling.