The studio explores the potential of existing parking garage structures as a resource for circular architecture. The focus is on developing reuse strategies for the repurposing of parking garages that may become obsolete. Rather than viewing buildings as self-contained objects, they are understood as material repositories whose structural elements can enable future architectural uses.
Based on a precise inventory, students analyze selected parking garages in the Stuttgart region and document their construction in the form of a detailed catalog of building components. The goal is to understand the structural properties of the existing components and use them as a starting point for a new design.
As the course progresses, students develop independent architectural typologies consisting exclusively of reused structural elements from the respective existing buildings. New materials may only be used where they are necessary to connect existing components. The transformation of the existing elements is deliberately kept to a minimum in order to preserve their future reusability.
The studio views construction and time as fundamental design parameters. Architecture is not regarded as a static end product, but rather as a mutable and reversible structure whose elements can be recombined and adapted to different uses over the course of multiple life cycles. The goal is to develop “capable architecture” based on adaptability, circularity, and constructive logic.
The developed designs are realized as 1:33-scale models using original materials. In addition, a model-scale component catalog is created for each project, documenting the structural elements of the respective existing building and providing insight into the design process.
The presentation/exhibition is expected to feature between 50 and models. The models are up to 1 m tall or have a footprint of approximately 1 × 1 m. Together with the exhibited component catalogs (displayed digitally via projection), they illustrate the design process—from the analysis of the existing building through the development of structural strategies to new architectural typologies—and demonstrate the potential of resource-efficient architecture that prioritizes reuse over new construction.

The studio explores the potential of existing parking garage structures as a resource for circular architecture. The focus is on developing reuse strategies for the repurposing of parking garages that may become obsolete. Rather than viewing buildings as self-contained objects, they are understood as material repositories whose structural elements can enable future architectural uses.
Based on a precise inventory, students analyze selected parking garages in the Stuttgart region and document their construction in the form of a detailed catalog of building components. The goal is to understand the structural properties of the existing components and use them as a starting point for a new design.
As the course progresses, students develop independent architectural typologies consisting exclusively of reused structural elements from the respective existing buildings. New materials may only be used where they are necessary to connect existing components. The transformation of the existing elements is deliberately kept to a minimum in order to preserve their future reusability.
The studio views construction and time as fundamental design parameters. Architecture is not regarded as a static end product, but rather as a mutable and reversible structure whose elements can be recombined and adapted to different uses over the course of multiple life cycles. The goal is to develop “capable architecture” based on adaptability, circularity, and constructive logic.
The developed designs are realized as 1:33-scale models using original materials. In addition, a model-scale component catalog is created for each project, documenting the structural elements of the respective existing building and providing insight into the design process.
The presentation/exhibition is expected to feature between 50 and models. The models are up to 1 m tall or have a footprint of approximately 1 × 1 m. Together with the exhibited component catalogs (displayed digitally via projection), they illustrate the design process—from the analysis of the existing building through the development of structural strategies to new architectural typologies—and demonstrate the potential of resource-efficient architecture that prioritizes reuse over new construction.