St. Hubertus by Gottfried Böhm – Visions for the "Backenzahn"

At the foot of Aachen's Kronenberg, the Catholic Church of St. Hubertus, completed in 1964, is an architectural gem designed by Pritzker Prize winner Gottfried Böhm. Once a lively quarter church, the building, popularly known as the "molar", is now rarely used, so that as a result of the "Kirchliches Immobilienmanagement" (KIM) process in the Aachen diocese, an – initially fictitious – future alternative use is now to be developed for the church building.

The design project (M2.1a) in the first semester aimed to explore the spatial and functional potential of the formerly slate-clad "rock of concrete" anew and (following the architect's original idea of a veritable community centre) to devise uses in and around the church building that (once again) make this place, which was actually intended as an entrance to the neighbourhood, a point of attraction and connection.

The design part of the project is complemented in the second semester (M2.1b) by the joint conception of an exhibition in the Church of St. Hubertus about the Church of St. Hubertus. The participating students are looking for ways of communicating the special features and peculiarities of the church building on and in the building itself and to bring them to the attention of the lay and professional public in Aachen in a inspiring way in order to change their perception of the church for the better with lasting effect and to increase their appreciation of this special building.

The M2 project started in the winter term 2021/22 and will be continued in the current summer term.