Marburg building system

The Marburg building system is considered the first precast construction concept in the German Federal University building. For the natural science institutes of the Philipps-University Marburg on the Lahn mountains 1961-63 / 65 rastered concrete elements were developed. Until the 1970s, the Marburg system influenced later university buildings from Darmstadt in the south to Hamburg in the north of Germany.

Background of the University
After the Second World War, the educational question was also re-discussed in the Federal Republic. Science should again be committed to truth and democracy alone. In a series of articles, the philosopher and pedagogue Georg Picht in 1964 conjured up the "German educational catastrophe ": Only increasing numbers of high school graduates and students could secure German economic power. The sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf declared the education even to the civil right. Increasingly, the baby boomers were pushing to universities. The proportion of new students in their age group rose from 6.2% in 1952 to 15.4% in 1970. As a result, the federal government now also equips the universities more generously. By 1968, it was finally demanded to restrict access to study. A possible "academic glut" should be prevented.

Development of the precast system
The rooms of the University of Marburg were hardly destroyed during the war. It was not until the student numbers skyrocketed around 1960 that the idea of new buildings was increasingly being considered. In the narrow valley of the city, however, there was a lack of space. Therefore, the ministry decided in 1961 on the one hand, to cultivate the Krummbogen on the Lahn. In addition, the medicine and the natural sciences - except for the Department of Physics, which remained in the Upper Town - stored on the Lahn mountains. The ridge northeast of the city received an S-shaped access road. Until 1977, a large complex was to be built here. For this, the local university building authority designed a flexible variable prefabricated concept with architects such as Kurt Schneider, Helmut Spieker and Günter Niedner. After a gridded modular dimension of 60 × 60 cm, precast concrete elements were developed. On the characteristic four-part pendulum supports mounted support beams. In this rust structure standardized expansion elements made of metal and plastics were inserted. The filigree buildings also received circulating escape balconies. The plant was supplemented with individual massive structures that were built in in- situ concrete. In this form, for example, the auditorium building of chemistry was built.

Implementation on the Marburger Lahnbergen
In 1964, the field factory was established on the Lahn mountains. Here, the standardized elements were made for the local construction sites. Until 1966, the new university building and the pre-clinical research units were built in the Marburg system. Afterwards, the finished parts were easily adjusted. Until 1977, the Institute of Natural Sciences with the New Botanical Garden and a comprehensive infrastructure (from the electrical and telephone system to the district heating plant) emerged. Consciously, the individual scientific institutes were placed side by side on an equal footing. The gray concrete structures were enlivened by the smooth white-and-dark finishing elements and individual colored accents. In the mid-1970s, the taste and needs of users changed in the Lahnbergs as well. For the new university hospital (inauguration 1984) one adapted the Marburger system one last time. For later buildings, external architects were finally commissioned. With the current plans for the "Campus Lahnberge" , the buildings of the Marburg system are currently under discussion.

Impact history and today's meaning
The Marburg system had been developed as a model for the Lahnberge. Only occasionally was it applied elsewhere, eg. B. for the gas station and service area Großenmoor near Fulda. But the concept was exemplary in its time. It has often been described as being both cost effective, flexible and aesthetic. The Marburg system influenced new university buildings such as the new buildings in Darmstadt, Hamburg, Tübingen or Dortmund. Programmatically, the Marburg planners had distinguished themselves from the half-timbered romanticism of Marburg in 1961-63. At the same time, however, they explicitly referred to their skeleton construction also on the Hessian half-timbered construction. Other influences are likely to be found in traditional and modern Japanese architecture , z. B. at Kenzo Tange. In Marburg itself was stressed for a long time the energetic deficiencies of the Lahn mountains. In professional circles, however, the Marburg system as an innovative testimony of post-war modernism again received high recognition.

Endangerment
The university buildings in Marburg, which were built with the Marburg building system, are in danger of being threatened. Although they are listed as historical monuments, the university plans to demolish the largest of them, the building of the former chemistry department for 2020. President Krause sees no possibility for remediation and other uses .

Source from Wikipedia