Chair Langenberg

Research activities of the Professorship for Construction Heritage and Preservation focus on a diverse set of building stocks, design, planning, and building processes. These include older and younger (as well as very young) buildings and structurally outstanding engineering works. Their (potential) value as monuments as well as the challenges concerning their physical preservation need to be identified and analysed at an early stage.

Current trends indicate that the building industry in Switzerland is increasingly engaging with the renovation, extension, adaptation and maintenance of the existing building stock rather than building anew (external pageBundesamt für Statistik. 2020. „Bau-​ und Wohnungswesen: Panorama.“ Publikationcall_made). At the same time, construction sector has been implementing new and technologically complex construction methods and material compositions at an increasing rate without concern for the repairability and reuse of these systems. There is a lack of knowledge about the aging and reparability of such new constructions and current research on the long-​term consequences for the building stock is insufficient. For the adequate maintenance and successful development of the future building stock, it is critical to study and document younger and contemporary building methods and processes, and examine how these can be preserved or adapted in the future.