The Architects: or How to Exhibit Failed Hopes

In the 1980s, a distinctly East German engagement with postmodernism developed in the GDR – even though it was not permitted to be called that there. Its leading figures belonged to a bohemian subculture that emerged in the shadow of a repressive state which was increasingly losing its authority. One of them was the architect Michael Kny. As part of a collective led by Wolf-Rüdiger Eisentraut, he and his partner Thomas Weber designed several buildings for the new center of Marzahn in the 1980s. Within the framework of standardized construction, they sought their own forms and deviated from the normed buildings of the GDR by using unusual combinations of industrially manufactured components. Kny also became the inspiration for Peter Kahane's DEFA feature film _Die Architekten_ (1989/90). The film tells the story of a young architect whose major project fails due to bureaucracy and economic constraints, and traces the various stages of this failure right into his private life. The film exemplifies the crisis in the GDR's construction industry and, through striking imagery, depicts a city caught between a prefabricated concrete metropolis and a bohemian neighbourhood amidst a GDR in decline. The exhibition _Die Architekten_ takes the film and the housing estate as its starting point and brings together architecture, film, photography and art. Historical documents, models and photographs are juxtaposed with Wenke Seemann's artistic collages of large housing estates, Sonya Schönberger's video interviews with those involved, Ulrich Wüst's portrait series and Michael Kny's painting _Breughels Babylon vollendet_. Together, they reveal a network of ideas, friendships and artistic practices whose influence extends right up to the present day. * The film _Die Architekten_ depicts a collective composed primarily of female architects. In the team led by Kny/Weber, numerous female architects held project leadership roles. The additional asterisk in the title also indicates the time gap.