Villa Massimo Visits Weimar: Lecture by Benedikt Hartl
The Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism is continuing its presentation series by former Villa Massimo fellows in Rome with Benedikt Hartl’s lecture on Wednesday, 24 June 2026 at 5 pm in the Oberlichtsaal.
The University-wide series is organised by the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism and takes place over two semesters. The events are organised by Verena von Beckerath, Jan von Brevern, and Bernd Schmutz. The series is part of the »Wo die Zitronen glüh’n – Villa Massimo zu Gast in Weimar« festival, which is being held from 23 to 26 July 2026, as a collaboration between Villa Massimo and cultural institutions in Weimar.
Benedikt Hartl is an architect. He was born in Traunstein in 1986 and studied architecture at the Technical University of Munich, the Oslo School of Architecture, and Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam. After graduating, he worked as an architect in Zurich, Paris, and Munich before founding his own firm OPPOSITE OFFICE. The internationally acclaimed architectural firm deals with architectural issues at the intersection of the environment, politics, and society. Hartl’s work has been published and exhibited in over 100 countries. He has been teaching at various universities in Germany, Sweden, Japan, and Ireland since 2014. In 2023, he worked as a guest professor at Arusha Technical College in Tansania. He has been teaching at the University of Applied Life Sciences Kaiserslautern since 2025 as Professor of »Entwurf, Gestaltung, Experimenteller Raum«. In 2023, he was admitted to the Junge Akademie at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and to the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. He was also the recipient of the Weißenhof Architekturförderpreis. He was an artist in residence at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, and in 2024/2025 he was a fellow at Villa Massimo in Rome.
His lecture is part of a series on sustainability and is aimed at second-semester students in the Bachelor of Architecture degree programme. All those interested are cordially invited to the event.
Villa Massimo
The Rompreis Villa Massimo and scholarship from the Deutschen Akademie Rom Casa Baldi are considered to be the most prestigious awards for German artists and artists working in Germany. Wolfram Weimer, the Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien, grants the Rompreis Villa Massimo for a ten-month period to nine individuals or groups chosen by four expert panels in the fields of architecture, visual arts, musical composition, and literature. The Rompreis recipients are among the most influential figures in the German cultural scene. The composers, writers, architects, and visual artists live in spacious studios with adjoining apartments. Their stay in Rome is intended to inspire them and offer them artistic direction without financial constraints.
Further information on Villa Massimo can be found on their website:
www.villamassimo.de