Hotel Egon

IBA Thüringen Campus 2018

The International Building Exhibition (IBA) Thüringen and constructLab called on young creative people from various disciplines to design and create temporary hotel rooms and furniture for future guests and tenants in the Egon-Eiermann-Bau in Apolda. Under the motto ‘Open Factory’, the IBA Thüringen is developing there a site, that will be used for a variety of purposes in the future with studios, workshops, and event areas.

Over two weeks in August 2018, interior, furniture, textiles, films and texts were produced. In addition to innovative and sustainable prototypes for the emerging Open Factory in the building, we look back on two weeks of inspiring, cooperative and creative experiences. Around 50 participants, students and young professionals from the creative sector worked in small teams of two to eight people in workshops, namely the tailoring, writing, hotel room and furniture workshops, a film workshop, the kitchen, as well as a graphics and neighbourhood workshop.

Together they designed the Eiermannbau interior for future guests and visitors. All of the products were designed to make the visitors feel at home and welcome, to provide them with information and to linger in the architectural icon of Eiermannbau. No 5-star luxury beds with room service await the visitors, but rather interpersonal comfort paired with a treasure trove of materials, tools and knowledge. In the workshops, the participants thought together about resource-conscious possibilities of use, tested techniques and worked with mostly recycled materials. The entire team slept and worked in and around the Eiermannbau. The interdisciplinary dynamics created a culture of exchange and mutual learning. This way of working is also a model for the emerging Open Factory in the building.

In order to thematize and reflect on the collective project situation, we followed the method “atelier collaborativ”. On the one hand, the workshops function autonomously, but at the same time they are interdisciplinary, when for example the furniture workshop builds the chairs and the textile workshop sews the upholstery. The participants rotate according to an agreed rhythm of three days and meet in between to exchange and to get to know the tasks of the next three days through the workshop leaders. The participants then register for another workshops – accompanied by fruitful discussions and negotiations.

Next to the workshops, constructLab invited guests to discuss the ideas and bring new impulses in the group. Every evening ‘Hotel Egon’ opened its doors to interested neighbours and friends. The resulting 20 rooms and furniture are committed to open source thinking and invite the guests to bring themselves in. In the Eiermannbau, some of the prototypes are already being used by guests and visitors.

From 5 July to 25 August 2019, the Egon-Eiermann-Bau in Apolda will once again become the ‘Hotel Egon’, offering the opportunity to live in the developed structure.

View the Hotelroom Info here!