Parascape | Christoph Klemmt

German architect Christoph Klemmt has designed the Parascape project – a new architecture school in Stuttgart. The project was developed as a place for communication and the exchange of ideas, social and gathering spaces are everywhere integrated into the buildings.

The building is designed to be transparent, allowing visual connections from each area into the others, and passersby can look inside to see the presentations and work of the school.

Christoph Klemmt

Parascape, image courtesy of Christoph Klemmt

+ Press release courtesy of Christoph Klemmt

Christoph Klemmt Architecture + Design is pleased to unveal Parascape, the design for the new architecture school in Stuttgart.

Architecture and architectural education are happening through discussions. The design of the new architecture school in Stuttgart is therefore based on its perception as a place for communication and the exchange of ideas.

Parascape, image courtesy of Christoph Klemmt

The building is designed around a central communication space which at the same time acts as a foyer, an exhibition space, a cafe and a work and studio space. All routes through the building are crossing here so that students and employees happen to meet each other. Students are working on their laptops, lecturers are enjoying their coffee break and people are visiting the exhibition. Presentations are happening in the surrounding spaces visible by all, and both students and teachers find others for discussions or to ask a question.

Parascape, image courtesy of Christoph Klemmt

Also the general public is integrated into the architecture related interaction: Pathways across the roof are accessible 24 hours, connecting the surrounding areas of Stuttgart’s city park, the Liederhalle, the main shopping street and the railway station, and a bridge leads across the adjacent main road.

To achieve this the roof of the building is stretching down to the ground in certain places and reaching up in others to create space for the programmes of the school. The geometry of the roof has been generated through an iterative process of shaping according to the internal and external circulations which are needed to access and cross the building. The resulting roof garden is made accessible via a network of Stäffele, the stepped pathways which are typical for Stuttgart’s urbanism.

The areas of the green roof landscape have different functions assigned to them according to their inclination, degree of privacy and geographical orientation. The pathways are crossing in a central square with cafe and bookshop, other areas are used for technical experiments, solar cells, an auditorium and general leisure.

Parascape, image courtesy of Christoph Klemmt

The building is designed to be transparent, allowing visual connections from each area into the others, and passersby can look inside to see the presentations and work of the school. The large windows along the pathways are constructed as showcases, housing constantly changing displays of the student’s work.

Parascape - Floor plan, drawing courtesy of Christoph Klemmt

Parascape - Section, drawing courtesy of Christoph Klemmt

+ Project credits / data

Architect: Christoph Klemmt Architecture + Design
Project: Parascape
Program: Architecture school
Location: Stuttgart, Germany