how cities function. But the main thing I’velearned more about is how a corporation like <strong>Audi</strong> works—a vast, complex organization that puts several hundredthousand vehicles on the road every year. Of course, it’sincredibly difficult for such a large company to suddenlyturn around and say: “Well, folks, we’re doing great, andwe can certainly keep going like this for another ten years,but we need to take some time out now to think aboutwhere we’re headed.” It takes a great deal of innate couragefor a car manufacturer to invest money in somethingas “wacky” as an urban planning initiative.Given that cars represent mobility, and architecture isby nature a more stationary discipline, the combinationdoesn’t really make sense at first.That’s true. But what brings the two together isthe city. And although a city consists of stationary structures,it’s also made up of people, and it’s an artifactthat’s continuously changing. Outside of our orderly Europeancities, it’s a largely unpredictable process of explosiveand prolific expansion. Things are in a constantYou have addressed the political dimension of architectureand urban planning. How on earth did you hit onthe idea of approaching architecture from a politicalperspective?I studied in Bonn and I used to ask myself howthis strange little “capital village” evolved at all and whyit looks so different from other capital cities. I becameso fascinated that I even wrote my dissertation about it.Into the 1970s, there was at least a superficial claim thatthis was just a provisional arrangement. Both clients andarchitects deliberately avoided using Bonn as a showcasefor their work. When the German Bundestag decided toconstruct a new parliament building, there was some intensedebate over what it might look like. Architecture inWest Germany was to be new and different; there was adesire to stand out from East Germany and, much moreimportantly, from the National Socialist era. That was avery consistent theme at the time: We have to build differentlythan in the past.Günter Behnisch, who constructed the new plenarychamber of the German Bundestag in Bonn, was a U-“We knowfrom experiencethat people tendto identify morestrongly witha process whenthey participatein it.”state of flux. The question as to how the mobility of thefuture will look has major implications for cities and theirboat commander during the war. That was why he wantedan open architectural style that would let the sun shineNowadays, the focus of architecture is on transparency anddemocracy, not power and provocation.architecture. But beyond these considerations, there arein while at the same time giving occupants a view of thealso plenty of political and even philosophical issues atoutside world and enabling them to connect with theirstake, and I find that enormously exciting.surroundings. The schools he built also follow resolutelydemocratic lines, in stark contrast to the barrack-styleschools built at the turn of the twentieth century.But is glass really a “democratic building material?”quirements but otherwise do more or less whatever theygenerated great public interest as a tourist attraction.One thing democracy requires is transparent deci-want with their lot. And then you have a building sittingAnd leases and sales are going well.sion-making processes and the disclosure of arguments.there, and people have to live with it. It’s not a particular-Truth and light are traditionally related concepts: Thely democratic process, but perhaps there’s no other wayEven though it’s really only for a small, very wealthy sec-light of truth, to be in the limelight in the sense of “inof organizing things. Nowadays at any rate, the planningtion of the population.the public eye”—these themes are deeply rooted in ourprocess still often happens under the radar. For 20 years,That’s true, but I think that’s part of the naturelanguage. Of course, democracy can just as easily be prac-people don’t take much of an interest in it, but whenof big cities. Things aren’t all the same in conventionalticed in a stable. But there’s also the question of how anthe backhoes roll up, they think: Wait a minute, I don’tcities. The mixture of quiet and expensive residential ar-administration wants to present itself. That’s why we nowknow anything about this, and now I want to have my say.eas, rougher neighborhoods and areas where it’s cheaperalso have a glass dome on the Reichstag in Berlin. We hadThat’s a problem. We know from experience that people,to live is what gives cities their charm in the first place. Ito take a building that was so solid and impenetrable andin smaller communities at least, tend to identify moredon’t believe that we can evaluate the really importantmake it transparent in one fell swoop. That was no easystrongly with a process when they participate in it. Theirissues today. What’s much more interesting is whether<strong>Audi</strong> Urban Future InitiativeThe 2010 <strong>Audi</strong> Urban Future Award, Germany’s most highlyremunerated architecture competition, marked the firststep on the road to the future. One year later, in March2011, AUDI AG decided to continue its engagement withurban development and linked the award to the long-term<strong>Audi</strong> Urban Future Initiative. The initiative aims to promoteinterdisciplinary exchange among respected experts on theissue of urban mobility. The most important theses of theaward are substantiated in cooperative research projectsand workshops and examined in ongoing discourse in which<strong>Audi</strong> employees also participate.For the latest developments and projectsthat are part of the initiative,go to www.audi-urban-future-initiative.com.Become a fan atwww.facebook.com/audiurbanfutureinitiative.task, because when the Reichstag was built, transparencyand democracy were not salient factors—it was all aboutpower and provocation. With the exception of the cathedraland the Kaiser’s palace, no other building in the citywas permitted to have a dome. Then along came the parliamentariansand put a dome on their building, an act ofoutrageous arrogance that earned them the Kaiser’s uttercontempt. So you see it’s entirely possible for politicalconflicts to suddenly play out in architecture.Another reason politics plays a role in architecture isbecause there are always calls for greater democracy inurban planning processes. Will it become even more importantfor the public to have a say going forward?People should begin by asking themselves whetheror not architecture can ever be democratic, beyondmere gestures and symbolism. In normal cities, thereare property owners who have to comply with certain re-attitude toward the resulting structure also improves.People engage better with something they have helpedto shape than with anonymous architecture that has beenthrust upon them.You live and work in Hamburg, which enables you to followthe development of the vast HafenCity project. Doyou like what you see there?I think it’s a project where a great deal has beenlearned from the mistakes of the past. It’s very homogenousin one sense and verging on the repetitive because ofthe way that every building tries to assert its uniqueness.But there are schools, plenty of restaurants, cultural facilities,a mixture of residential and office space. If youcompare it to the urban expansion projects of the 1960s,70s and 80s, it represents a huge leap forward. At thesame time, it’s a project that was planned and completedwithin a very short period—an instant product. But it hasa district can be adapted to cater for new requirementsin the future. Our urban areas dating back to the turn ofthe 20th century allow for alternative uses of buildings.We’re seeing factories converted into loft apartments orcultural institutions. Large apartments are turning intooffices and vice versa. From an architectural perspective,I have no strong feelings about HafenCity, positiveor negative. We’ll have to wait and see how it measuresup: Will it still be attractive in 30 years? Or will we thendecide we’d be better off tearing it all down again? That’salso an option. Then, 30 years down the road, the nextlayer will simply be added. //Watch a conversation between Dr. Heinrich Wefing andPeter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board ofManagement for Marketing and Sales of AUDI AG,in the <strong>Audi</strong> magazine iPad App.049 / inspire / <strong>Audi</strong> magazine <strong>Audi</strong> magazine / 050
<strong>Audi</strong> ultraEvery g ramcountsDuring the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, <strong>Audi</strong> showcasedwith the R18 Ultra Chair developed by design duo Kram/Weisshaarjust how advanced the lightweight design process is today—and invitedthe public to try out the chair.By Dorothea Sundergeld (copy)“The Future in the Making” was the title of the ex-Does this mean <strong>Audi</strong> is now producing chairs ashibition to which the Italian architecture and design mag-sophisticated as ultra-lightweight race cars? “No, that’sazine Domus invited guests to Milan’s venerable Palazzonot our intention,” says Dr. Durst. “With our installationClerici from April 17 to 22. Visitors strolling through thewe want to communicate what our approach to light-magnificent 18th century chambers witnessed how choco-weight design technology is all about.” There will be atThe object of seating desire in the original.late desserts are made in a 3D printer or how solar energycan be used directly for the manufacturing of vessels.least one additional R18 Ultra Chair, however. The dataacquired during the Milan installation will be analyzed andharnessed to develop an optimized version of the chair. ItIn the palace courtyard, the <strong>Audi</strong> R18 TDI, theis slated for exhibition at Design Miami/ in December. //winning race car in the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans, wasflanked by another eye-catching lightweight design tourde force: the R18 Ultra Chair—a delicate four-legged chairFind additional footage and a link to an extensiveInfo-PDF in the <strong>Audi</strong> magazine iPad App.with an angled seatback, weighing not even two kilograms.It was designed by the German-Swedish design duoKram/Weisshaar in collaboration with the experts at the<strong>Audi</strong> Lightweight Design Center in Neckarsulm. The seat ismade from rigid carbon fibers, with the backrest fashionedout of a more flexible carbon-fiber/rubber compound and<strong>Audi</strong> ultra technologythe legs crafted from high-strength aluminum. Nothingyou wouldn’t expect to see at the world’s most importantFour chair legs, nice and neat.Under the <strong>Audi</strong> ultra banner, the company pools all itsactivities and innovations from the fields of lightweightdesign, materials, construction principles and productionprocesses. Alongside <strong>Audi</strong> e-tron and <strong>Audi</strong> connect,<strong>Audi</strong> ultra is one of the core technologies that embody the“Vorsprung durch Technik” concept in all vehicles built inIngolstadt.However, <strong>Audi</strong> ultra expertise can be applied not only inautomotive engineering and auto racing, it is also used onrepeated occasions in other fields such as sled and boatbuilding,the development of an <strong>Audi</strong> carbon ski—or nowin the design of an innovative piece of furniture.To learn more about <strong>Audi</strong> ultra, go towww.audi.com/vorsprung-durch-technik/ultra.Watch several movies of the <strong>Audi</strong> ultraTechnology at www.audi.tv.Photos: Kram/Weißhaar AB, Tom Vackfurniture show—if it weren’t for the thick, black cablesemerging from the seat, the numerous sensors and thescreen on the other side of the stage visualizing in real timeand false colors every bit of pressure exerted on the chair.“R18 Ultra Chair Public Beta” is the title of the installation—andjust as beta versions of computer programsare made available to the public for testing, for five daysthe public was invited to try out the chair in Palazzo Clerici.Unlike in conventional market research, the volunteerswere not asked how they liked the chair. The informationof interest to the designers is collected by the chair itselfvia sensors. Because each and every person sits differentlyand exerts pressure on the chair in a different way. “In the<strong>Audi</strong> ultra concept, every gram counts,” explains Dr. KarlDurst, engineer for fiber-reinforced composites at <strong>Audi</strong>,“that’s why it’s our objective to apply the right amount ofthe right material in the right place.”A sketch of the R18 Ultra Chair.051 / inspire / <strong>Audi</strong> magazine <strong>Audi</strong> magazine / 052
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