4 courtyards, 4 lounge types, 4 carpet themes University of Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Institute for Computer Science

The 'living room' theme was taken up in the 4 courtyards as a counter-image to the high-tech world of work. The result is four different meeting places and at the same time quiet zones that enable relaxation and regeneration with elements of nature.

Recognition at the German Landscape Architecture Award 2005

The new building for the Institute of Computer Science is part of an overall structure of institute buildings, refectory and library and a sophisticated outdoor area from the 70s, and has thus been a component of a so-called "learning street" since 2003 - the center of university life.
The computer science building shows an increasing transparency and openness of the rooms from the outside to the inside. The boundaries between inside and outside are minimized by a particularly light construction of the supporting structure and by providing all rooms and lecture halls with daylight. The use of transparent, translucent and reflective materials creates a spatial perception between illusion and reality.

The aim was to integrate the inner courtyards into this system of complex visual relationships in order to increase the transparency of the building. And also to create outdoor areas that are detached from the campus and simultaneously serve as break, work and viewing areas. What was needed was a motif that would run through all four courtyards and yet make them distinguishable.

Embedded in the operation of the institute and teaching activities and extending over 2 floors, the theme of the 'living room' was taken up in the 4 courtyards as a counter-image to the high-tech working world:

On the upper floors, the carpet types 'Berber', 'Persian', 'Sisal' and 'Floccati' were installed as a walk-on platform. Their 'type-appropriate' furnishings and the play with the proportions of carpet, chairs, lamps, potted plants and people create a slightly bizarre atmosphere. In particular, the oversized, bright yellow flower pots in the lower first floor courtyards, which can be seen from the lecture halls, corridors and the campus, seem like something from another world.

Irritated by the scale, for a moment you are transported away from academic reality.

AppreciationGerman Landscape Architecture Award 2005

Jury verdict: The authors convince with a clear, consistently implemented and thoroughly surprising concept. They have chosen the motif of stylized carpets for the design of four courtyards of a university building, which they have designed with appropriate - not exaggerated - effort.

The result is four different meeting places and at the same time quiet zones that allow relaxation and regeneration with elements of nature. The enigmatic wit in the treatment of the chosen theme of living rooms seems all the more appropriate when you consider the young age and needs of the users. In this case, it is a matter of computer science students, i.e. a target group that already spends a lot of time in front of the computer due to their job - they are offered four discrete counter worlds.

The project shows and proves that novel, almost exemplary solutions can be realized with comparatively modest means.