Chair Profile

The establishment of a Chair for Construction History has its origins in the Brandenburg University of Technology’s founding concept from 1990. Besides science and technology subject matters it aimed to establish at Germany’s youngest University of Technology in an interdisciplinary way also contents from the humanities in teaching and research. Being headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Werner Lorenz since 1993, the chair belongs to the faculty of architecture, civil engineering and urban planning. In 2003 it was renamed in "Chair for Construction History and Structural Preservation” to reflect the previous broadening of the Chair’s sphere of activities into the area of assessment and reinforcement of structures. Because of the diversity of its teaching duties, the chair has since developed into one of the largest departments of the faculty.

The chair’s research and teaching activities are focussed on technological and structural processes of development in building history. Its historical work correlates with current issues in building, as historical practice not only profits from construction practice’s critique, but also develops and clarifies its themes and approaches in examining actual methods of construction.