In the summer semester, second-semester students in the Bachelor's Degree Programme Interior Design designed digital environments for VR experiences of outstanding works of expressionist film. The topic was: "The Dark Side of Space: Scene Images of German Expressionism in Film".
Prof. Andreas Kretzer on the task and the student's work: "Detailed analyses of the plot, equipment, lighting, camera perspectives and image composition were followed by drafts of the student 's own interpretations of the film works for implementation as a VR environment. Initially, the work was done with analogue hand drawings. Halfway through the semester, the designs were digitally modeled and further developed. Designers of virtual spaces can use other possibilities than when designing interiors or exhibitions for a realisation with real building materials. In an initially unlimited space, for example, gravitational forces do not necessarily have an effect. Material strengths or connections can be thought of and interpreted differently than in real building construction.
Florian Hörtig's design for the silent film "Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler" by Fritz Lang from 1922 appropriates the theme and dares a very independent implementation. Floating playing cards, which as spatial objects house figurative card values as persons, geometrically describe a spherical volume with a mysterious cloud of smoke and a casino table as a portal at its poles. Remarkable is the exemplary work with the sketchbook as an instrument for the penetration of the content and for the iterative design work down to the details.
Evaluation by Christian Hein, member of the jury:
"The submitted sketchbook by Florian Hörtig convinced the jury in a special way. The way in which he deals with the drawings with parts from his studies, figurative sketches, finding colors and shapes and the combination with other everyday things such as admission tickets and the like creates a collage-like diary, which is convincing not least because of its credible authenticity.
This sketchbook fulfills the requirements of the prize and the jury, because the drawing exercise in many areas of life not only serves to find solutions and forms for architectural tasks, but also allows situations in everyday life to succeed with the power of freehand drawing as a credible note in the sense of a diary.
Only through this extensive training of freehand drawing – also with leaving less successful drawings – a good tool can emerge to communicate to oneself and to others."
The honored work and all other recognitions can be found on the website of RKW Architecture +
We congratulate warmly on this outstanding achievement and award!
