Selina Redeker
Selina, please introduce yourself:
Hello, I am Selina Redeker and I have been studying “Baukunst” at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf since 2019, where I plan to graduate in the coming semester. My projects are accompanied by representations in which drawing, layering and collaging take on an important role in terms of content.
Drawing © Selina Redeker
#1 You study “Baukunst” at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. How did you come to choose this particular course of study?
After my rather classically oriented bachelor's degree in architecture at the TU Berlin, it was clear to me that I wanted to study more freely in order to find out which direction I was really drawn to and what I wanted to do with what I had learned up to that point. For me, the Baukunstklasse at the Kunstakademie sounded like the ideal place to combine both my interests in art and architecture in one study programme. The free study model without grades and credit points promised that the focus was really on individual development. The very personal mentoring relationship with the professors and studying in a class that is not divided by year and specific courses were also very appealing. I wanted to leave such a large institution, like a traditional university, for a smaller context. This decision also worked out when I changed my place of residence, and it was definitely the right one.
#2 In your experience, what distinguishes the study “Baukunst” from a conventional study of architecture? How do you experience studying?
The form of engagement with architecture takes place here in a much more free framework. The students who come together in the “Baukunstklasse” are looking for their own expression, which manifests itself both aesthetically and through their own position on architectural creation. Our theoretical explorations of themes and problems are accompanied by the liberal arts seminar and lecture programmes, and also go much deeper than I experienced in my Bachelor's degree when developing questions for my own projects. It's not about coming up with a suitable solution as quickly and efficiently as possible, but rather about taking the time to dive deeper into the content. This depth of content then finds expression in the form of hand drawings and experimentation with materiality in the model. Almost every one of us has a preferred method of expression, but we also keep trying things out. We can use all the workshops that are also available for the liberal arts. In addition to the wood and metal workshop, there is also a plastics, ceramics, printing, painting, stone sculpture and wood sculpture workshop. The possibilities for expression are almost unlimited. There are currently four professors teaching in the "Baukunstklasse", which means that the ratio of students per professor is very small. One's personal path is very individually supported here. Above all, however, the everyday exchange among us students contributes to an enriching working environment. We sit together over a coffee and/or a cigarette and talk about what we are currently working on, what problems and challenges we are currently facing.
#3 What does a design process look like for you? What tools do you use?
At the beginning there is the need to formulate a clear question. So first I start researching the topic. I try to be almost detective-like, to talk to people on the spot and to find everything that explains the place or the topic better. During this time, I try to record my findings in notes, texts and sketches. Another method that works well for me is to create a mental picture. This is a drawing on which I record initial design considerations, parameters of a place or theme and further findings in order to communicate them but also to summarise and interpret them for myself.
Drawing: © Selina Redeker
#4 On your Instagram account @selinajre, one can see that the theme of illustration seems essential to your work. How did that develop?
I have always liked to draw a lot. For a long time, however, drawing for architecture was something completely different from free drawing in my private life. It was only during my studies in architecture that I began to intuitively capture my thoughts on designs in drawings. I think that's where my own way of depicting things came from. At the beginning of my architecture studies, I thought that every representation had to be very precise in order to show correctly what one had thought about. But over time I've realised that it's much more enjoyable and drawing becomes a real thinking tool when I'm more intuitive and don't get very set on what I want to show beforehand. I try to transfer my thoughts very directly into drawings and sketches.
Everything else then develops in the flow of the work. On my account you mainly see works that were created at the end of a project. They try to unite the essence of the findings from the project in one representation. I like to work in larger formats for this, in which I try to describe my projects in a collage-like manner in a single drawing, a picture.
#5 What is particularly important to you in terms of the illustration of architecture?
I find it particularly interesting when architectural illustrations have their own signature, when the type of illustration is coherent with the idea of the project and creates its own atmosphere, a special expression. I find that - unlike with plans - there can always be inaccuracies that leave room for the viewer's own interpretations and imagination. In my own work, I try to leave the moment of searching and orientation to the viewer. In a picture that shows a lot at once, everyone can go in search of it themselves and develop their own perspective.
#6 What project are you currently working on and what challenges do you face?
I am currently working on a project to be realised on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. The students of the academy had the opportunity to submit project ideas to a committee. The anniversary year of such a large institution should thus be shaped by the students themselves through different projects. I have initiated a project for this, which I would like to realise in Düsseldorf's urban space together with some of my fellow students from the architecture class - and hopefully also from other art classes. It's about a performative architecture that moves into the urban space, plays as a textile space, urban spaces and thereby deals with questions of the future, in relation to society, the institution, the creation of art and architecture and tries to transport these questions. The challenge in the project is above all the coordination, bringing together, communicating and holding together different ideas, concepts and ways of working. The project is still in its early stages, and the most challenging time will probably be in the coming months, during its realisation.
Drawing: © Selina Redeker
#7 How do you see your role as an architect in society?
In the course of my studies, the role of architects changed fundamentally in my perception. Especially in the first years of my studies, we learned to design new buildings - concrete was taken for granted and almost glorified as a building material. Today, you have to ask yourself whether you should still be building new buildings at all. I see my role as working with what is already there, creating places where people come together. It doesn't always have to be something fixed. I'm interested in appropriating places and dealing with the existing. This opens up a lot of possibilities that I find extremely inspiring and think that the potential here is far from exhausted.
#8 How does the environment affect your work?
What is currently happening with our environment has a strong influence on my idea of what I want to contribute to society as a future architect. I personally have a great desire to create something in my environment, to deal with places and societies and to find people-friendly answers to problems. However, I do not see myself in the role of realising this in the form of large building projects - for the sake of the environment.
#9 Three things that inspire you at the moment.
Tents, half-full sketchbooks, exhibitions.
#10 What are you currently reading, watching and listening to?
I am currently reading Fabian by Erich Kästner. A good friend gave me the book as a gift. I already know the story, but it's incredibly fun to dive into my hometown in the 1920s. It is very humorous, but also incredibly serious. The temporal parallel to what's happening now is uncanny in parts.
Apart from that, I'm still researching for the current project and reading everything I come across that could inspire me.
Links
Instagram: @selinajre
Photo Credits: © Selina Redeker, Interview Caroline Steffen