KAROLINE
LIEDTKE
ARCHITEKTUR SOMMER, HAMBURG
Exhibition concept and execution for the Department of Landscape Architecture, HafenCity University, Hamburg, presenting recent works of the studio within the Architektur Sommer Hamburg (Summer of Architecture Festival), 2012, with Claudio Bertelli (Hamburg) and Anne Kittel (Hamburg)

The Hamburg Architecture Summer takes place every three years under a specially chosen theme that contributes to the latest discourse and debates in the field of architecture and urban planning in Hamburg. It reflects the basic need for a dialogue between experts and the public about architecture and urban development in many ways, formats, and places. About 150 presenters, including museums, municipalities, universities, galleries, cultural institutions, architecture firms, and many others offer an extensive range of over 280 events in twelve different subject areas. The Department of Landscape Architecture was invited to showcase its studio’s work and projects of the past two years. The HafenCity University hereby offered to use their administrative center’s foyer in Hamburg’s HafenCity as an exhibition space. The space, not usually used as an exhibition space, called for a special concept to generate a concentrated exhibition atmosphere. The idea was to close the floor-to-ceiling windows with semi-permeable curtains. The curtains shielded the space from distractions outside while allowing in a soft and diffuse light. A sizeable handmade screen print showing a plan of the great garden in Hannover and a quote by the philosopher G. W. Leibniz (taken from the project “The Fragmented Garden”), the curtain itself became an exhibition piece. The screen print was exclusively made for the exhibition in collaboration with the University of Arts, HfbK, in Hamburg. The print is one of the largest ever to be executed in the studio. The center of the exhibition was formed by a new cubic volume, built up around the three columns in the middle of the room. Its walls offered needed space to hang up the sketches and design works and at the same time covered and tied the three columns together. The exhibition space was also used for lectures and discussion groups during the semester and therefore served as an inspiration for the students and upcoming projects.