Langenberg, Silke, «The Hidden Potential of Building Systems. The 1960s Campus Lahnberge at Marburg University as an example», In: Construction History, International Journal oft he Construction History Society, Vol. 28, No. 2 (2013): pp. 105–126.
To the publication
Many system-built buildings of the 1960s have come under criticism lately, while the reasons for their development have fallen into oblivion. Many of the buildings appear incomprehensible or even absurd if their basic concepts are ignored and the main influence of strategies for optimisation and rationalisation are not taken into consideration. In addition, the physical ageing of the buildings is often very poor. While expressive individual buildings and prototypes, as well as the creations of famous architects and large-scale utopian visions from the boom years, seem to gain more and more recognition, the large mass of system buildings, constructed at the same time or subsequently, are hardly appreciated – despite the fact that their underlying core concepts aimed at openness, growth and modification, and were therefore intrinsically sustainable and long-lasting. The buildings at the Lahnberge Campus of Marburg University were the first to use the building system devised by Helmut Spieker, known as the Marburg Building System, based on the tartan grid. These buildings are used as a basis for the investigation of the hidden potential of building systems and to discuss opportunities for their continued use and development in the 21st century.