International conference on preservation and design
Experts will be discussing how Architecture and Architectural Conservation can strengthen each other at the international annual conference of the Working Group on Theory and Teaching of Heritage Conservation (AKTLD) from 2 to 5 October 2025. This year, it is being organised by the BTU Chair of Architectural Conservation.
"The natural alliance and partnership between Architecture and Architectural Conservation is still more of an ideal than a reality," says Prof. Dr Johanna Blokker, head of the chair. "But if we are serious about the building turnaround, then a business-as-usual approach is simply untenable in both disciplines."
A socio-ecological turnaround in construction should bring together climate protection and social justice. "No small task," adds Prof. Dr Gesine Grande, President of the university. "But one for which we are particularly well equipped here at BTU, because our Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Urban Planning has extensive expertise not only in the design, but also in the preservation of buildings of all kinds."
In addition, BTU is the only university in Germany to offer Architecture with a specialisation in Design and Heritage. The international study programmes "Heritage Conservation" and "Heritage Studies" bring together experts from the History of Art and Architecture and Architectural Conservation to meet the challenges of a changing climate and an ever faster changing world.
Strengthening the dialogue between Architecture and Architectural Conservation is also the aim of the AKTLD conference. The Arbeitskreis Theorie und Lehre der Architectural Conservation e. V. is an association of university lecturers and other experts who teach and research in the field of Architectural Conservation at universities and universities of applied sciences. In keeping with the interdisciplinary nature of Architectural Conservation, the working group includes representatives from Architecture and Building Research, Art, History and Restoration Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Civil Engineering, Law and Urban Planning, among others.
