The hidden world of valiant ideas

Babylon in "Architecture Valley"

The 1968 student movement captivated the hearts and minds of the young generation in Europe and the USA. The protests targeted all existing state and social authorities, and dictatorial forms of government throughout the world. Frei Otto recalls this time of change for Stuttgart College of Technology and for the Architecture Department:

"Schools and university departments were set on fire in California, England, Japan and Paris. But not in Stuttgart. Stuttgart wasn't conservative, of course. Here people were relatively progressive in their ideologies, and any debates were moderate in tone. But the obligatory far-reaching reforms were carried out. The restoration came shortly later.
The revolution was a storm that was both constructive and destructive at the same time.
The famous Civil Engineering Faculty fell apart. Its eight sections wanted more power. They lost it. Architecture, town planners, geodesists, constructors, engineers, water engineers, traffic planners all went separate ways, spoke different languages, and soon only had minimal voting rights. The community spirit in teaching had disappeared. At least in the building that called itself a university."

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