Mäusebunker und Hygieneinstitut

Threatened with demolition and celebrated as icons of brutalism, Gerd and Magdalena Hänskas "Mäusebunker" and the former Hygieneinstitut designed by Hermann Fehling and Daniel Gogel in Steglitz, Berlin, form a unique ensemble of exceptional buildings. This volume takes as its subjects the different architectural principles underlying the two facing buildings, the intense debate concerning their preservation and reuse, and their economic and cultural value. The questions now posed by these concrete structures and the impact of their designs and power are explored using the architects historical design documents as well as artistic contributions. Photographs by Kay Fingerle offer a view of the buildings interiors rarely afforded to the public.

Ludwig Heimbach is an architect based in Cologne and Berlin. He was the curator of the "Mäusebunker & Hygieneinstitut: Experimental Setup Berlin" exhibition held at the BDA Galerie in Berlin in 2020, as well as at the IUAV for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice in 2021. Heimbach has been a member of the Deutscher Werkbund since 2008, the Bund Deutscher Architektinnen und Architekten (BDA) since 2009, and the Architectural Design Association of Nippon (ADAN) since 2017. In addition to working at his own firm, he teaches at several universities and was the artist in residence at the Goethe-Instituts Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto in 2016.