Kontakte – Das Jahrbuch der KIT-Fakultät für Architektur 2023

Deconstruction Workshop/Lifecycle of
Building Components
The seminar DE-CONSTRUCT BETTER! was connected
with the design studio and focused on how building components
are integrated in today’s building stock.
Hands on! Through a Deconstruction Workshop,
the students had the opportunity to dismantle building components
themselves. Parts of a residential building from the
post-war period were dismantled: stone slabs, tiles, washbasins,
door panels, etc. In some cases, those components could
not be dismantled — an important lesson learned for the students.
Physically they understood, why buildings should be
assembled according to the principle of Design for Disassembly,
so they can be dismantled and their components
can be reused in the future. In this way, disassembly and
re-usability of building components are maximized, the environment
is relieved and values are preserved. This cycle of
materials saves energy as well as resources and honors the
beauty of what already exists.
The second part of the course focused on becoming
experts of specific building components. Individual materials
were examined from the resource until the end of their lifecycle:
Where do they come from, who is involved, how are
they processed and which path do the materials take at the
end of their lives?
The students were encouraged to focus their projects
on specific topics like biodiversity, social aspects, resources
and emission reduction (CO2eq). These specific topics
were transferred into their individual architectural approaches
in order to understand their relationship to
circular construction.
F Deconstruction workshop,
Overview of dismantled compontents
G Dismantling washbasins
H Dismantling doorframes
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