Prof. Dr Ir. MA (AA) Christoph Grafe has been teaching architectural history and theory at the University of Wuppertal since 2013. He studied architecture, also worked in architecture firms and has worked at various universities for many years, including in the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain and Italy. He has been Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Wuppertal since April 2024.
In the interview, he talks about the profile, future and pioneering role of the faculty at the Haspel campus. The video interview from 22 May 2024 has been shortened and updated for publication in text form.


Prof Grafe, where do you see the key points of this faculty? 

We have very different areas, expertise and ways of working here in the faculty: In civil engineering, we do calculations, including detailed planning. In architecture, we design, certainly also calculate, and there are many social and cultural aspects. But what unites us all is the fact that we shape the environment in which we humans and all living beings live: in the cities, in the landscape, in the houses. 

This joint shaping of our environment connects us at the Faculty. I believe this is something that we also need to tell people outside the Faculty: that we are working here on what the future of our environment will look like. In other words, very concretely, very tangibly. We have different methods for doing this in our three degree programmes, but there is also a lot of overlap. 

There is probably no other faculty at the University of Wuppertal that has to deal with the issue of sustainability more often than we do. Everything we deal with, teach and learn here ultimately has to do with the concept of sustainability. You could also say that the work of engineers and architects is probably influenced by this new challenge even more than in other professions - among other things, of course, by the consequences of the climate crisis, but also by the changes in our society. 

Cities already look different today than they did 20 years ago, and they will continue to change. And we will shape this process, which could also be called a transformation process. Ultimately, that is what we research here and what we teach accordingly. That is the core of this faculty.


What does interdisciplinary collaboration look like at the faculty?

What will once again be very much on our desks over the next few years - and by that I don't just mean my personal desk, but the desks of all of us - is that we look closely at how we shape the process together, where we have our particular priorities and how we define these priorities even better so that they are also more recognisable.

Let me take one aspect as an example: in the field of architecture, we have been very much involved in the building turnaround in recent years - moving away from demolition and new construction towards remodelling. We are already playing a pioneering role in this area in Wuppertal. This is an area that has received a lot more attention in recent years and where we as a faculty can also build on something where we already have a position. On the other hand, it is also an area in which there is a lot of collaboration, for example with designers, with people from the water industry, the property industry and the transport industry. In other words, it is a field that we can work on across all disciplinary areas of this faculty and in which we can become much more visible. And this visibility is not only interesting for the researchers at this faculty, but also for the students, because they can participate in this reinvention of our profession.


What will keep the faculty busy over the next few years? 

First of all, it is not yet clear whether we will get a new building or whether we will keep this low-rise building. In both cases, we will have to deal with a construction project and, of course, we will be living somewhere else in this area temporarily. So far, the faculty has had no influence whatsoever on the decision as to whether and when a new building will be constructed and I fear that we will have to come to terms with this in the future as well. To be honest, I would find it very interesting if we could turn the temporary accommodation into a joint project for architects and civil engineers, in the slipstream, so to speak, of the decision-making processes, which may still take a very long time. 

A second aspect that will occupy us is: how can we become more international? We have Erasmus students from Naples here for the first time in the autumn, so we are already starting to have students from other universities as guests. We will definitely have more English lessons in the future - at least in some areas. This will also lead to our networks becoming stronger, both in research and in teaching, and to us having an even clearer profile in terms of content: for example, in the areas of building with existing buildings, remodelling culture, but also in the recycling of materials, in forms of construction that are significantly more sustainable, but of course also in water management, for example - in other words, how do we ensure that we don't seal so much land? All of this will clearly occupy us in the coming years. I know that we already have expertise in these areas that is interesting not only in Wuppertal, but also beyond and internationally.

The third point is to expand concrete cooperation with the universities in BENELUX and NRW - after all, one of the core regions of the European Union. Here, too, we can break new ground and further increase the attractiveness of our university and this faculty.


An outlook on the faculty's own Haspel Campus?

It's great when you look at our entire Haspel campus with the various buildings, the old building, the former Königliche Baugewerkschule: this is where the so-called Werkkunstschule was located, where interesting artists and important architects were trained, and where the architect Heinz Bienefeld taught, among others. Then there's the building that was built at the end of the 1950s/beginning of the 1960s, including the so-called low-rise building with its inner courtyards and interesting works of art - all of which together form an ensemble that is really good to live in.

In addition to our campus buildings, I also find it interesting that we are here in the middle of Wuppertal, just a few hundred metres from the Schauspielhaus and therefore from the Pina Bausch Centre. This is a great opportunity for us to engage with the city and help shape how this city will be in the future as a major city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in the centre of North-West Europe - how it will be better, how people can live in it better, certainly with more green spaces!

In other words: We are shaping the future here. And so the Haspel Campus is not just a place where we come together, but also a bit of a mission.

 

About Prof. Dr Ir. MA (AA) Christoph Grafe

Contact: dekanat.archbau[at]uni-wuppertal.de