Teaching through Design for Sustainability of the Built Environment and Heritage Awareness
HERSUS online Seminar scheduled for 18th and 19th of February, 2021
TITLE: RMB Reuse of Modernist Buildings workshops
Reuse of Modernist Buildings, Design Tools for Sustainable Transformation (RMB), a European project developed within the ERASMUS+ program, is contributing to the urgent acceleration of the transformation of the EU modern movement period building stock by compiling an educational Erasmus Mundus Master, that exclusively addresses this issue. The physical, economic and social pressure on urban areas from the 20th century is causing ongoing destruction of neighbourhoods, quarters and buildings, and concomitantly, the loss of specific cultural elements and environments. RMB offers tools for a sustainable transformation process.
At the core of the RMB educational model are the International workshops, in which all the university partners from Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Belgrade, Serbia, Denmark, Pakistan, the Netherlands and Portugal have participated. The workshops help students to develop specific competencies and expertise, combined with a broad spectrum of critical knowledge and interpersonal skills.
The workshops on actual cases are important for this personal development of the students, but also help to disseminate to a wider audience important insights, solutions, opportunities and innovations in working with modernist heritage. With the workshops, RMB found a powerful format for involving a wider community of both professionals and non-professionals, in working on this delicate cultural issue.
Prof. ir. MICHEL MELENHORST, OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Project Coordinator of the project "Re-use of modernist buildings"
Michel Melenhorst studied at Delft Technical University and the Politecnico di Milano. Melenhorst worked as an architect for the offices of Wiel Arets (1991-1995) and Rem Koolhaas OMA (1995-1999) before starting his own office M in 1999. 2005 He became a partner in DAAD Architects until he made the switch in 2012 to Detmold Germany to hold the chair for Contextual Design, building transformation, reuse and cultural heritage at the TH-OWL, Detmold school of architecture and interior architecture. Michel Melenhorst has extensive experience in design, consulting, teaching and lecturing. He is member of Docomomo International and is active in Docomomo Deutschland Workgroup education. At the TH-OWL he is coordinating the Master in Architecture.
