What’s become of Otl Aicher’s former abode? A visit to the Allgäu.
otl aicher 100: “of course a car is also a sign” – Otl Aicher’s critique of the car. Retrospective and discussion
With a retrospective of Otl Aicher’s book “kritik am auto – schwierige verteidigung des autos gegen seine anbeter” (Criticism of the Car – Difficult Defence of the Car against its Worshippers) published in 1984, the IDZ continues its series of events on the “otl aicher 100” initiative. The discussion evening will take place on 25 June 2022 in the rooms of the former Ulm School of Design.
Berlin, 2 June 2022 – This year, the International Design Center Berlin (IDZ) rememberers the life, work and impact of the designer, who would have turned one hundred on 13 May, with the web platform otlaicher100.de and a complementary series of events. Questions that concerned Aicher will be discussed and explored in depth with today’s representatives of the design world.
The discussion on 25 June will focus on his book “kritik am auto – schwierige verteidigung des autos gegen seine anbeter“, published in 1984. Aicher writes “a critical book about cars, but he does not hide the fact that he loves cars”, says the blurb. His interest in the overall phenomenon of the car, to which he dedicated his analytical, sometimes polemical writing, corresponded to his enthusiasm for technology. He took 100 years of automobile history as an occasion to review concepts, models and strategies. He also addressed the “limits of resilience”: environmental aspects, road safety, speed limits and toxins.
In the past forty years, the automobile, markets, social demands and economic trends have fundamentally evolved. Aicher could hardly have foreseen most of today’s current trends. The car is still the first means of social distinction, but the often predicted collapse of the transport system has not yet occurred. Autonomous driving may change the way it is used, luxury and design extremes dominate the scene. Where does criticism of the car operate effectively today?
Under changed conditions, what Otl Aicher already said back in 1984 applies today: “the concept alone obviously doesn’t do the trick to make a good car.” Today, we are concerned with the question of how the car must be designed in order to be less dominant in the interaction with other forms of transport, as well as to appear more urban-friendly. Questions that are also on the agenda in the discussion round are how pointless traffic can be avoided and desired mobility can be enabled.
Panellist:
Peter Wouda runs the Volkswagen Group Future Center Europe in Potsdam and designs visionary studies for the VW Group with his team. He tries to design answers for the challenges of the future from an industry perspective. Wouda is a member of the board of the IDZ Berlin.
Prof. Lutz Fügener is head of the Design and Mobility Department at the Faculty of Engineering at Hof University of Applied Sciences in Selb. For many years he has been one of the best-known lecturers training automobile designers in Germany. At the same time, he has repeatedly appeared in public with critical positions on the development of the car and the priorities of the industry.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gebhard Wulfhorst, Chair of Settlement Structure and Transport Planning at the Technical University of Munich, criticises misguided developments in mobility at city and transport planning policy level. Traffic that does not arise in the first place through cleverly planned cities and regions also does not cause any unwanted aspects.
Florian Aicher begins by reporting on his collaboration on the exhibition and the book “kritik am auto”. At the same time, he tries to relate criticism as formulated by Otl Aicher in 1984 to present sceneries.
The Hamburg journalist and critic Thomas Edelmann will moderate together with Florian Aicher.
On this evening, visitors can gain impressions of the architecture of the HfG and study some of the exhibition panels from 1984, which the HfG-Archiv Ulm, host of the event, will set up especially for the occasion. In addition, “delta 1”, the prototype of a sports car from 1967, can be seen in its original form. Created as a “study object for lightweight construction principles” by Henner Werner, Michael Conrad and Detlef Unger, graduates of the HfG Ulm, the car was introduced in Aicher’s book.
“of course a car is also a sign” – Otl Aicher’s critique of the car
Retrospective and discussion, an event of the IDZ Berlin in the context of “otl aicher 100”.
Venue: HfG-Archive Ulm, Am Hochsträß 8, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Date: Saturday, 25 June 2022, beginning 7:00 p.m.
Please register on time! You can also register now for the following events in this series.
We will be happy to provide you with photo material for press coverage upon request.
Editorial team:
Florian Aicher, Thomas Edelmann, Prof. Dr. Chup Friemert, Kai Gehrmann (Artistic Director), Jasmin Jouhar, Katharina Kurz, Prof. Dr. Dagmar Rinker, Gerrit Terstiege and Fabian Wurm (Chief Editor).
Patrons:
Funded by the Federal Cultural Foundation. Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.
Corporate partners:
Bulthaup GmbH & Co KG; ERCO GmbH; FSB Franz Schneider Brakel GmbH + Co KG
Further sponsors and cooperation partners:
Bauhaus Dessau e.V.; Akademie der Künste, Berlin; Deutscher Werkbund Berlin e.V.; HfG-Archiv Ulm
Media partners:
ARCH+; brand eins; ndion
otl aicher 100: Online platform and event series
The International Design Center Berlin (IDZ) is taking Otl Aicher’s centenary as an opportunity to pay tribute to this great designer and to make his work visible. An online platform and a series of events will address Otl Aicher’s multifaceted cosmos of topics and illuminate them from different perspectives.
Berlin, 31 March 2022 – Otl Aicher (1922 – 1991) is one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. He became internationally known above all as the design commissioner for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. However, the job title “designer” would be too short-sighted for Aicher: He thought and acted universalistically in his various roles. If one looks at his activities as a university founder, graphic designer, typographer, management consultant, sculptor, philosopher and author as a whole, he was an intellectual who intervened in design. For him, design was “civilization work”. The HfG Ulm, which he founded in 1953 together with his wife Inge Aicher-Scholl and Max Bill, stood for a new beginning, a “different Germany”.
“Otl Aicher’s work was trend-setting, his life’s work extraordinary,” explains IDZ member Kai Gehrmann, the artistic director of “otl aicher 100”. “As a designer and intellectual, as a humanist and fighter and as a critical thinker, he is more relevant today than ever. His ‘life in the making’ – his optimism, his unconditional belief in being able to intervene in the world in a formative way have retained their validity to this day – and are worth a deeper examination.”
13 May 2022 marks the centenary of Otl Aicher’s birth. On the initiative of Kai Gehrmann and Florian Aicher, the International Design Center Berlin is taking this date as an opportunity to explore the life and work of this multi-layered and often ambivalent personality. An internet presence will be created under the title “otl aicher 100” – a curated space that encourages discourse and serves as a platform. In addition, a series of events will address themes from Aicher’s work and link them to current issues. The opening event will take place on 13 May at the Akademie der Künste at Pariser Platz in Berlin. Following on from his essay “kulturen des denkens” (cultures of thinking), the focus will be on ethics and the cultural dimensions of artificial intelligence. Further information and registration at: idz.de
At the same time, the online platform will be launched at otlaicher100.de. Further events in cooperation with Akademie der Künste, Deutscher Werkbund Berlin and the HfG Archive Ulm are planned.
Editorial team:
Florian Aicher, Thomas Edelmann, Prof. Dr. Chup Friemert, Kai Gehrmann (Artistic Director), Jasmin Jouhar, Katharina Kurz, Prof. Dr. Dagmar Rinker, Gerrit Terstiege and Fabian Wurm (Chief Editor).
Patrons:
Funded by the Federal Cultural Foundation. Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.
Corporate partners:
Bulthaup GmbH & Co KG; ERCO GmbH; FSB Franz Schneider Brakel GmbH + Co KG
Further sponsors and cooperation partners:
Bauhaus Dessau e.V.; Akademie der Künste, Berlin; Deutscher Werkbund Berlin e.V.; HfG-Archiv Ulm
Media partners:
ARCH+; brand eins; ndion
otl aicher 100: Celebration event at the Akademie der Künste and launch of the online platform otlaicher100.de
Today marks the centenary of Otl Aicher’s birth. The International Design Center Berlin (IDZ) is taking this date as an opportunity to pay tribute to this great designer. With otlaicher100.de, a new online platform is being launched – a curated space that provides information about the life and work of Otl Aicher and invites discourse. In addition, a discussion and lecture evening at the Akademie der Künste will focus on ethics and the cultural dimensions of artificial intelligence.
Berlin, 13 May 2022 – Otl Aicher (1922 – 1991) is considered one of the formative German protagonists of design in the 20th century. He became internationally known above all as the design commissioner for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. In addition to his design projects, he always engaged deeply with social issues and actively sought the balancing act between philosophy, commerce and design – as a university founder, graphic designer, typographer, management consultant, sculptor, philosopher, author and intervening intellectual.
Today Otl Aicher would have turned 100. On the initiative of Kai Gehrmann and Florian Aicher, the IDZ is taking this date as an opportunity to explore the life and work of this great designer under the title “otl aicher 100”.
Online platform otlaicher100.de
With otlaicher100.de, an online platform will go live in the evening that is intended to serve as a first point of contact for anyone interested in Otl Aicher and inspired by his work beyond the year of the birth anniversary. It starts with several written texts – and many pictures, some of which are still “treasures” from the HfG-Archiv Ulm, which also contains Otl Aicher’s estate. The website will continue to grow until the end of the year, so a visit will always be worthwhile.
Series of events
The website will be accompanied by a series of events in the anniversary year. The first of these is today’s lecture and discussion evening “es gibt keinen Computer, der nach freiheit ruft” (There is no computer that calls for freedom) at Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Following on from Otl Aicher’s essay “kulturen des denkens” (cultures of thinking), the lectures and discussions will focus on ethics and the cultural dimensions of artificial intelligence.
With Lukas Brand, Prof. Dr. Byung-Chul Han, Prof. Karsten Henze, Lorena Jaume-Palasí, Yasemin Keskintepe, Prof. Jeanine Meerapfel, Prof. Dr. Christoph Neuberger, Wolfgang Reul and Peter Schubert.
Further events in cooperation with Akademie der Künste, Deutscher Werkbund Berlin and HfG-Archiv Ulm are planned:
25 June 2022 “of course a car is also a sign”
Retrospective of Otl Aicher: Critique of the Car, Munich 1984
7 p.m., Ulm HfG, Am Hochsträß 8, 89081 Ulm, Germany
Registration
26 August 2022 “we have bread, we have games”
Olympics as politics, Olympics as utopia, Olympics as big business – on the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich
7 pm, Plenary Hall of the Academy of Arts, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
Registration
20 October 2022 “there is nothing here to provides shade.”
Four men and two motorbikes in the desert
7 pm, Architektur Galerie Berlin, Karl-Marx-Allee 96, 10243 Berlin
Registration
We will be happy to provide you with photographs for your media coverage on request.
Editorial team:
Florian Aicher, Thomas Edelmann, Prof. Dr. Chup Friemert, Kai Gehrmann (Artistic Director), Jasmin Jouhar, Katharina Kurz, Prof. Dr. Dagmar Rinker, Gerrit Terstiege and Fabian Wurm (Chief Editor).
Patrons:
Funded by the Federal Cultural Foundation. Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.
Corporate partners:
Bulthaup GmbH & Co KG; ERCO GmbH; FSB Franz Schneider Brakel GmbH + Co KG
Further sponsors and cooperation partners:
Bauhaus Dessau e.V.; Akademie der Künste, Berlin; Deutscher Werkbund Berlin e.V.; HfG-Archiv Ulm
Media partners:
ARCH+; brand eins; ndion
Buchstaben mit Beinen und Ärmchen
