An ambitious project on a tight budget: Nine students are designing this year’s stand for the Leipzig Book Fair. From 27 to 30 March, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar will be represented on 80 square metres. The exhibition concept is the brainchild of a specialist course in the Faculty of Art and Design.

For the third time in a row, an alumna of the binational Europäische Medienkultur (EMK) degree programme at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has received the Franco-German University (DFH) Excellence Award: Emilia Terodde was recognised this year for her Bachelor's thesis, »Hörbare Abwesenheit. Der Sound als Träger der Erinnerung in ›The Zone of Interest‹«. The award ceremony was held on 30 January 2025 at the French Embassy in Berlin.

Up-and-coming talent in the construction industry was recognised by the »RKW Kompetenzzentrum« at »BAU 2025«, the world’s leading trade fair, in Munich on 14 January 2025. Among the award winners was Markus Boden, a scientific associate at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His free digitalisation check for small and medium-sized companies in the construction industry impressed the jury and won him first place in the »Baubetriebswirtschaft« category. The university will be represented at a stand at the trade fair until Friday.

This year’s DAAD award went to doctoral candidate Pappal Suneja from India. He is being recognised for his outstanding commitment to social, societal, and intercultural issues at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Lola Behrens' bachelor's thesis has been recognised in the young talent category of the Hessian State Prize for Universal Design. The award-winning »LAVA« care shower chair was specially designed by the product designer to meet the needs of people with age-related physical limitations. With her work, Lola Behrens shows how clever design can improve the living conditions of many people and counter demographic change with good solutions.

This year’s Peter Joseph Lenné Prize in the »National« category goes to Till Pulst, a student in the Master’s degree programme in architecture at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. His project »Transformation Lausitz – Welzow Süd: Die Produktive Landschaft« won over the jury of the ideas competition for architecture, landscape planning and art.

On 22 November 2024, this year’s winners of the traditional graduation exhibition at the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism were recognised as part of the graduation ceremony. Three main prizes, two special prizes and ten commendations were presented for outstanding ideas and solutions addressing contemporary architectural, urban development and social challenges. These encompass topics such as urban-rural dynamics, the repurposing and conversion of buildings, structural changes, opportunities for participation and the role of artificial intelligence.

Sophia Lick, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Master’s student, came up with the idea for »MindLeague«, an AI-supported mental coaching app. The app helps professional and extreme athletes to build mental strength, manage stress, and optimise their performance. Lick was awarded first place at the Red Bull Basement National Final in Munich on 16 November and will go on to represent Germany at the Global Final in Tokyo. She beat out more than 1,000 submissions with her vision, impressing the jury with her pitch. She was highly praised for her clear vision and the potential of »MindLeague«.

Felix Stockhausen has been honoured with a recognition at the Mia Seeger Prize 2024 for his bachelor's thesis in product design at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Under the title »Velocity«, he designed a bicycle compartment including a guidance system to make taking bicycles on commuter trains easier and more attractive.

A project in the Faculty of Art and Design is working on digitally customised, 3D printed foot orthoses. The project will make everyday life easier for affected patients. Researchers on the »Digitale Orthetik« project were awarded a gold medal at the international »Ideen, Erfindungen, Neuheiten« (iENA) trade fair. The project was funded by the Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society.

Im Studienpreis Konrad Wachsmann 2024 waren zwei Studentinnen der Fakultät Architektur und Urbanistik erfolgreich. Mascha Leykauf, Absolventin im Master Architektur, hat einen Preis für »Zwischen Welten, ein Lernort für Schönefeld«, Betreuung: Professur Entwerfen und Raumgestaltung, erhalten. Olga Sulek, Studentin im Bachelor Architektur, wurde für ihre Arbeit »WBS70 – Eine intersektionale Kontextualisierung«, Betreuung: Professur Entwerfen und StadtArchitektur, mit einer Anerkennung ausgezeichnet. Beide Arbeiten beschäftigen sich mit wichtigen Zukunftsfragen in Architektur und Planung.

For the second year in a row, the outstanding achievements of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Faculty of Art and Design students have secured third place for the State of Thuringia in the »ADC Hochschul-Kreativindex«. Ranking in the index is based on awards received over the last three years.

The Matriculation Ceremony on 16 October 2024 included not only a warm welcome to new students, it also honoured several students, an early-career scientist, and an early-career artist with Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Awards for their outstanding scientific and artistic/design work. President Prof. Peter Benz presented the awards and congratulated all winners in front of a packed Audimax.

Seven video projects by MediaArchitecture students will be on display at the Elbphilharmonie Media Wall from 15 to 31 October as part of the City Digital Skin Art Festival in Hamburg. The festival also included prizes, among which were silver for Ayca Tugran and bronze for Kevin Blackistone. In addition, projects by five student teams were nominated to be presented at the festival.

Professor Jan Willmann and Junior Professor Lars Abrahamczyk have successfully applied for one of nine fellowships from the Stifterverband and the Thuringian Ministry of Economics with their project »Robotic Tectonics – Robot-based teaching and learning environment for automated construction processes« (RoboTec). Around 50,000 euros are now available for an interdisciplinary teaching format designed to teach students how to use robotic arms in practice. The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has already benefited several times from the funding for innovations in digital university teaching in Thuringia in order to develop new teaching projects.

Vom 31. August 2024 bis zum 5. Januar 2025 zeigt die Ausstellung »Dare to Design« des Rat für Formgebung im Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt am Main innovative Projekte, Positionen und Visionen junger Produkt- und Industriedesigner*innen. Die 45 Abschlussarbeiten von 22 bundesdeutschen Hochschulen zeichnen sich durch Themenvielfalt und differenzierte Gestaltungshaltungen aus – und insbesondere durch ihr Potenzial, den gesellschaftlichen Wandel zukunftsweisend mitzugestalten. Mit dabei sind drei Abreiten aus der Fakultät Kunst und Gestaltung.

Freie Kunst graduate Maria Fabricius-Wendt was awarded the »Lyonel Kunstpreis 2024« on Friday, 12 July 2024. The award, which honours the final projects of up-and-coming talent in the Faculty of Art and Design and comes with a 2,000 euro prize, has conferred by »Lyonel – Verein zur Förderung von Kunst, Gestaltung und Kultur (Lyonel e.V.)« since 2019.

On Monday, 17 June 2024, Elfi Handina Murandu was awarded one of three prizes for young book design by the Stiftung Buchkunst for her bachelor's thesis »A Book about Hair«. The publication includes 30 perspectives from Black and biracial individuals, and examines questions of belonging, adapting and representation, among others. The book is a collection of actions and behaviours from various Black realities.

The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is once again celebrating success at the annual ADC Talent Awards. Students from the Faculty of Art and Design impressed with their achievements and were honoured with numerous ADC nails in gold, silver and bronze.