Futur[AHR] - Future Perspectives for the Ahr Valley after the Flood Disaster 2021

The devastating floods in the summer of 2021 changed the landscape and, with it, the towns and villages located along the river Ahr in the north of Rheinland-Pfalz in previously unimagined ways. Since then, residents and those responsible for reconstruction in the Ahr Valley have been faced with the challenging task of developing a long-term sustainable concept for restoring the region, making it habitable again as well as attractive for tourists, and at the same time protecting people and the environment from the dangers of future flood disasters.

In this context, a special focus is on the historically grown and identity-forming features of the Ahr valley, which are recognizable in many ways, partly obviously through landmarks such as hilltop castles or town walls, but also partly only on closer inspection through the specific location in the valley or a village structure oriented according to the respective requirements of the local community. In order to process this important knowledge in the context of reconstruction and to make it available to those responsible on site, the three-semester teaching research project Futur[AHR] was initiated at the Chair of Architectural History. In the first phase, the participating students had the opportunity to collect impressions of the transformed flood landscape on site, to document them, and finally to analyze historical maps of the investigated sites. The second phase of the project, which immediately followed on from this, was aimed at creating impulse-giving, culturally and historically sustainable as well as flood-preventive design ideas - first on a landscape and urban planning scale, and then more precisely in the architectural design.

The promising results of the teaching research project were exhibited in the foyer of the Reiff Museum in Aachen from March 24 to 31, 2023, and presented locally in the Ahr Valley at an exhibition opening on May 5, 2023, in the Bürgerhaus Dernau. Subsequently, the exhibition sections were taken to the respective villages and continue to be on display for the public at the locations listed below. We cordially invite you to visit!