Single-use plastics have officially been banned in Bangladesh. But they are still part of the urban landscape. Researchers from the »SCIP plastics« project in Bangladesh and Germany, however, are seeking alternatives. Research associate Susanne Kühlewindt reports on this in the third instalment of the research log.

Mit innovativen Audioformaten wollen Maximilian Netter, Rafael Jové und Mario Weise den Hörfunkmarkt revolutionieren. Dafür haben die Medienkunst-Alumni der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar »FUNKHAUS ost« gegründet und werden seit Januar 2023 durch die Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) im Rahmen des Gründungsprogramms MEDIAstart unterstützt.

As of Friday, 6 January 2023, Weimar is one playground richer: A new social meeting space in the city centre was unveiled at Obergraben. The »Baukasten« architectural structure was designed by students Helene Sophia Krause and Sophie Littmann as part of their Produktdesign (Product Design) degree programme and realised with support from the Rotary Club Weimar-Bauhaus.

Am Mittwoch, 21. Dezember 2022, 17 Uhr, lädt der Fachbereich Medieninformatik an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar alle Interessierten zur Weihnachtsvorlesung in das Audimax in der Steubenstraße 6 ein. Mit dem Thema »Der gefühlvolle Computer: Eine Einführung in das Physiological Computing« gibt Dr. Jan Ehlers, Juniorprofessor für Usability, einen spannenden Einblick in die noch junge Teildisziplin der Informatik.

Das Forschungsprojekt »Stadtwende« hat den gleichnamigen im Ch.Links Verlag veröffentlicht.

Starting on 1 January 2023, researchers at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s Faculty of Media will be working together with philosophers and artist on a DFG-funded research project that investigates the critical relationship between animism and machinism.

In 2023, radio in Germany will be 100 years old. To mark this anniversary, the project »Listening to the World - 100 Years of Radio« has now been launched as a cooperation between the Professorship »Experimental Radio« at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the Goethe-Institut, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures).

The posts that appear on our social media feeds seem to have mostly been compiled randomly. However, the image feeds – which is to say the visual sequences – in the background actually follow very specific criteria and are tailored precisely to each individual user. Which factors influence this composition? From 1 February 2023, researchers will investigate just this question within the interdisciplinary research project on »Curating the Feed« funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and identify and analyse the various factors.

On Saturday, 3 December 2023, 7 p.m., the final exhibition of video and sonic art by current Radio Art Residency fellow Warrick Swinney will open. All interested parties are cordially invited to the exhibition rooms of Galerie EIGENHEIM Weimar in the gardener's cottage in Weimarhallenpark! The artist will guide through the exhibition.

Whether it’s cars, bicycles or pedestrians, Julius Uhlmann is analysing how users behave at crosswalks as part of his PhD at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. With the help of video recordings from Germany, Poland and Latvia, the project investigates the risks posed at crosswalks and whether cultural differences affect road traffic behaviour. Starting in mid-November, assessments will be made in cooperation with the City of Weimar.

At an invitation from the United Nations (UN), Weimar students will be presenting their ideas for sustainable textile use at the COP27 in Egypt on 11 November 2022. They will discuss with international textile industry retailers and manufacturers how to optimise the recycling of old clothing. The concepts were developed as part of the interdisciplinary Bauhaus.Module »Textile.Umwelten«, in which the students closely examined, questioned and rethought textile supply chains.

Das DFG-Netzwerk »Bauforschung Baubestände 1945plus« präsentiert zum Ende des Förderzeitraumes die Ergebnisse der gemeinsamen Arbeit: Unter der Überschrift »Reallabor Nachkriegsmoderne – Zum Umgang mit jungen Denkmalen« findet zunächst vom 17. bis 19. November 2022 in Augsburg ein Symposium statt. Im Februar 2023 wird dann die gleichnamige Buchpublikation erscheinen. In dem Netzwerk sind neben der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar mit der Professur Denkmalpflege und Baugeschichte die TU Braunschweig, Universität Innsbruck und TU München vertreten.

Two events taking place in Berlin and Weimar will focus on »Das Synagogen-Projekt« (The Synagogue Project). Architecture students from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the Technical University of Darmstadt, the Technische Universität Dresden and the HafenCity Universität Hamburg have developed designs for the reconstruction of synagogues as part of this project. The foundation for this project was the reconstruction of the Fraenkelufer Synagogue in Berlin and the Joseph-Carlebach-Platz Synagogue in Hamburg, as well as the Jewish temple on Poolstraße in Hamburg.

Even if digital communication effortlessly connects continents, it cannot replace personal exchange. Especially when a research team from Germany and Bangladesh is supposed to grow together in order to search for solutions together. The second episode of the research diary »SCIP Plastics« is about the first joint meeting in Bangladesh. Project employees from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE), the Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology (CUET) and the Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) met. Research assistant Senta Berner reports on her impressions.

Who among us doesn’t long for a dip in cool, refreshing water on a hot summer’s day? In places where there is no ocean or lake close by, outdoor pools are the place to go. However, you often hear it said that the heating costs are too high, or that it is simply uneconomical to continue operating such pools. Arguments like this were also made in the town of Rippershausen, which is situated among the lush green highlands of the Thuringian Forest and the Rhön Mountains. A local association calling itself »Schwimmbadfreunde« (friends of the swimming pool) took responsibility for the municipal outdoor pool in 2011 and went looking for new ideas. Students from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar developed several relevant proposals. The first part of a covered wooden walkway, also known as a colonnade, has been in place for several weeks. This change will allow the pool to serve as a year-round meeting place.

Under the title »Virtual Tinkering«, students from a total of six universities worldwide present the results of the »Public Arts Garage« project. Working together in teams, they realised artistic projects in virtual exchange exploring different approaches to work with and in public spaces. Now a selection of artistic interventions and performances will be presented in a poster exhibition in the university library of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Research is an abstract concept. But how does it actually happen? What do researchers experience on the way to new knowledge? What challenges do they have to overcome? With diaries, researchers at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar provide us an insight into their projects – so that others can participate in challenging times and the joy of success.

Caroline Ektander, born in Sweden in 1982, has been living in Berlin and working as a curator and architect for over ten years. Her work deals with the complex conditions of environmentally hazardous substances, poisons and toxins. She is currently working on her doctorate at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in the Faculty of Art and Design, focussing on the restoration of contaminated sites in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. In addition to this, she will be artistically exploring the contaminated ground water at the chemical site through support from the university’s Kreativfonds. Science editor Stephanie Waske asked Ektander about the context of this unusual research field.

From 15 September to 15 December 2022, the Radio Art Residency will be held by composer, producer, musician and sound designer Warrick Swinney. With his project "The ghostly disappearance of my country's future: a sonic hauntology", the South African-born composer focuses on re-approaching his existence as a recorded being through personal archives.

What are the best ways to heat, cool and ventilate buildings in the future This is the question that nearly 150 experts from science and the industry will be addressing at the 9th BauSIM Conference, which will be hosted for the first time by the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar from 20 to 22 September 2022.