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.

On 14 and 15 June the 19th Concrete Canoe Regatta took place in Brandenburg on the Havel. Over 1,000 students from six countries competed to prove that concrete can float. Never before have so many teams been registered. Participants included: 32 Students from the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Whether competition, construction or design - Weimar impressed across the board with wins in almost all categories.

Die Architekturstudentinnen Kerstin Baier, Linn Dohrenbusch und Leonie Richter haben mit ihrer an der Professur Entwerfen und Städtebau betreuten Bachelorthesis »Bahnhof Bovisa. Ein Typus der neuen Mobilität«(Betreuung: Dr. Steffen de Rudder) einen Preis im diesjährigen Nachwuchswettbewerb »wa award 2024« gewonnen. Der Nachwuchswettbewerb »wa award«, ausgelobt vom Verlag »wa wettbewerbe aktuell», lenkt den Blick auf studentisches Architekturschaffen. Verliehen wurden die Preise am 3. Juni 2024 im Rahmen der Preisverleihung an der Universität Stuttgart.

Vom 14. bis 16. Juni 2024 findet im Kloster Volkenroda das Festival »Kommmunikationsverstärker« statt, das sich thematisch mit dem Zusammenspiel und Wechselwirkungen von Musik und Architektur beschäftigt. In diesem Kontext kommen während der diesjährigen Sommerkonzerte Architekturstudierende der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar mit Musiker*innen zusammen. So führen Musiker*innen des Leipziger Gewandhausorchesters am 15. Juni um 17 Uhr, ein Improvisationskonzert auf, zu dem die Musiker*innen von Studierendenarbeiten inspiriert werden. Auch das Bühnenbild und das Wegeleitsystem werden von Studierenden entwickelt, aufgebaut und betreut.

On 7 May in Erfurt, Weimar student Sema Yilmaz was named best young talent in the category »Arbeiten von Auszubildenden und Studierenden« (Works by Trainees and Students) 2024 by buildingSMART Deutschland for her Bachelor’s thesis »BIM und Baustoffe« (BIM and Building Materials). Her work involved analysing eco-indicators of building materials and transferring object-related material properties into digital data models. The jury explained its decision saying the up-and-coming engineer of building materials thus made an important contribution to environmentally sustainable construction.

Am 10. April läutete die »Fakultät Bau- und Umweltingenieurwissenschaften« (kurz: Bau und Umwelt) das Sommersemester 2024 im Audimax der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar ein. Gemeinsam mit hunderten Gästen zelebrierten Forschende, Lehrende und Studierende das 70. Jubiläum sowie die Neuausrichtung der Fakultät in einem bunten, geselligen Rahmen.

Visual Communication students Johanna Mehner and Ossian Osborne won one of the prestigious awards in the renowned competition for the 100 best posters from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A total of 2,333 posters from 667 entrants competed for one of the coveted places.

The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has successfully made it through the first round in the federal and state »Professorinnenprogramm 2030« call for applications. This makes it one of 92 universities in Germany that impressed the jury and received an award for their gender equality policies, structures and measures. The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar was one of just 22 universities who were additionally awarded the title of »Gleichstellungsstarke Hochschule« (universities with strong gender equality). This is the fourth time that the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has been successful in the Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s programme for strengthening gender equality at universities.