UMBAU. Nonstop Transformation

UMBAU (conversion) means the ongoing transformation of existing structures. Given today’s climate goals, UMBAU needs to become the rule rather than the exception. The exhibition by the architects von Gerkan, Marg, and Partners (gmp) presents four of the more than sixty projects in gmp’s forty years of UMBAU experience as specific examples of current UMBAU practices that deal with the architectural heritage of the 20th century.

What the projects have in common is the conceptual approach to UMBAU which, starting from a comprehensive inventory of the existing, continues and further develops the old as an architectural evolution. In practice, UMBAU must also integrate overlays and new suppositions. UMBAU is not unique, but continues into the future as a nonstop transformation, as a project of social sustainability spanning generations.

gmp_UMBAU © Büro Otto Sauhaus

UMBAU. Nonstop Transformation debuted in Venice in 2023. At the AIT-ArchitekturSalon in Hamburg, the exhibition takes on a regional focus that includes the recently reopened Alsterschwimmhalle. The project is contextualized by the Isarphilharmonie Gasteig HP8 in Munich (in use), the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts (under construction), the Columbus Cruise Center in Bremerhaven (planned), and a tour of all gmp’s conversions in Hamburg, from 1977 to the present.

UMBAU. Nonstop Transformation
Studio: gmp Architekten
Curators: Stephan Schütz and Nikolaus Goetze with Detlef Jessen-Klingenberg
Curatorial Advisor: Florian Heilmeyer
Opening: March 4, 2024, 7:00 p.m.