Poetry and rationality

On October 30, the architect and university lecturer Inken Baller was awarded an honorary doctorate from the KIT Faculty of Architecture at a ceremony.
To mark the occasion, we are publishing an abridged version of Prof. Dr. Riklef Rambow's laudatory speech here:

"Dear Vice President Professor Wanner, dear colleagues, dear students, dear guests, dear Professor Inken Baller,

We are gathered here today to award an honorary doctorate from this faculty to an architect and university lecturer who, more than any other, we believe deserves this honor because of her impressive life's work. However, this is not just a retrospective honor, it is also about setting an example for our faculty that points to the future. Inken Baller's work is highly topical. It poses questions that are as pressing today as they were in 1967, when she founded the first joint office with Hinrich Baller, and it provides answers that are still incredibly stimulating, independent and valuable for us at this moment.
We are obviously not the only ones who see it that way. In 2023, the Association of German Architects BDA awarded Hinrich Inken and Hinrich Baller the extremely prestigious Grand BDA Prize and used this opportunity to highlight the importance of their joint work and raise awareness of it. What is even more interesting, however, is that there is a steadily increasing interest in their work on the part of a younger generation of architects. (...)

In my view, the most beautiful form of appreciation is (...) the traveling exhibition "Visiting Inken Baller and Hinrich Baller. Berlin 1966-89" and the accompanying book (comprising more than five hundred pages). In my opinion, both (...) represent a wonderful and congenial examination of the work, because they conceptually reflect its openness, multi-perspectivity and willingness to engage in dialog. (...)

I recommend reading the book to anyone who wants to engage more intensively with the Ballers' work.
Anyone who does so will quickly realize that the work is considerably more multifaceted than one might initially think and that it stems from a clear position from the outset. As already mentioned, the office was founded in 1967, one year before the student protests began. The historical context plays a major role, as does the place where the office was founded, but I can't go into that here. At that time, there was great dissatisfaction throughout Germany, but especially in Berlin, with the developments in architecture and urban planning, with the redevelopment of areas and the practice of new construction, which followed the rules of CIAM, but trivialized them to such an extent in the interplay of politics and investor interests that resistance arose on many fronts. The remarkable thing about Inken and Hinrich Baller is that - unlike many of their fellow students - they want to build above all else, despite their political awareness. Their active resistance to the prevailing dreariness is to be expressed through architectural means. The aim is to show that alternative architecture that contributes to improving conditions is possible.

From the very beginning, respect for the existing played a central role: "Demolition is always a bad idea". The aim was to create architecture that interweaves with the existing buildings and is developed from what is already there. It is clear that this must primarily be urban architecture that does not shy away from high density, as this is the only way to minimize its ecological footprint. Any form of monotony should be avoided. The city stands for diversity, openness and community, and these values should find adequate expression in the architecture. At the building level, the aim is to achieve maximum permeability, i.e. to create a variety of connections between inside and outside via windows, terraces, balconies, conservatories, outdoor staircases, etc. For this to succeed, the outdoor space, its topography and design must be considered from the outset. The floor plans should also avoid repetition and boredom, but at the same time offer maximum utility value. They should be architecturally specific and create unique spatial situations, but at the same time offer the best opportunities for individual expression and appropriation. They should be ambiguous or polyvalent and dispense with clear functional attributions. They should be sustainable in that they are durable and open to future change.
The aim is a profoundly humanistic architecture in which the focus is on the residents and their needs, but in which the interests of the neighborhood, the city and the environment are taken into account from the outset.
Many of us would probably subscribe to such a formulation of objectives for architectural action. It does not seem outdated or outmoded in the slightest. Nevertheless, we may have justified doubts as to whether or to what extent it can be realized in multi-storey residential construction, especially if this is to remain affordable or comply with the guidelines for social promotion.

It is therefore all the more astonishing and a great pleasure to work through the many examples in the Ballers' catalog of works, starting in 1970, in which the aforementioned principles are followed. It quickly becomes apparent that the designs develop from these principles, but that the concrete creative formulations are extremely different. You will not find a "style" here, but rather a subtle interaction between the respective contextual conditions and the overarching architectural objectives. The size of the unit in question naturally also plays an important role; the buildings are not freely "scalable", but attempt to create a suitable balance for the future community of residents between opportunities for retreat and meeting places, between indoor and outdoor space.
(...)

How was it possible to realize such a large number of buildings, which at first glance may seem somewhat eccentric and unnecessarily luxurious, but at second glance are of such impressive quality, under sometimes extremely adverse conditions? In the many conversations with Inken and Hinrich Baller, there are numerous comments and references to this, which I would like to summarize as follows: Hard work, intelligence and competence, a strong sense of reality, and a willingness to communicate at all levels. The realization of unusual ideas and maximum freedom for the residents can only succeed if it is handled in a highly rational and creative manner. You rarely get anything for free. If you want to realize a generous solution in one place, you have to minimize intelligently in another. (...)

A somewhat simplified summary: The apparent airiness and poetry of architecture is built on a hard-won foundation of technical, economic and communicative rationality as well as a constant willingness to learn. (...)

In 1989, Inken and Hinrich Baller ended their collaboration. Inken Baller continued to run her own office, but also took up a full professorship for design and building construction at the then Gesamthochschule Kassel. This marked the beginning of her time as a university lecturer, and the above suggests that she would also achieve extraordinary things in this field. After seven years in Kassel, she moved to the BTU Cottbus, which had been founded five years earlier, to a professorship for Design and Construction in Existing Contexts, where she worked extremely successfully until her retirement in 2007 (and beyond). (...)

Founding a new university in a small city on the eastern edge of the newly united republic, in the middle of a brown coal mine, was an adventure, but it was also an extremely important pioneering task that offered many opportunities. (...)

The professorship for Building in Existing Contexts, which Inken Baller took over, was one of the first in Germany with this focus, and in combination with the two degree courses mentioned above and the strong focus on building research and monument preservation, the young faculty had a strong unique selling point in this field. (...)

In addition to this pioneering work at the faculty, Inken Baller also served as Vice President for Teaching and Studies for six years. During this time, she had to shape the implementation of the so-called Bologna reform, among other things, so there were a number of conflict-laden issues to deal with. During these six years together, I experienced Inken Baller as an incredibly stabilizing force in terms of her personality and expertise, who was at the heart of the extremely productive development of the faculty without anyone ever noticing. "Natural authority" is often misused as an empty phrase, but in this case it is a fact.
(...)

{We are delighted} that we can now bind Inken Baller to the KIT Faculty of Architecture by awarding her an honorary doctorate. We are very happy about the spontaneous acceptance of this honor and are now looking forward to the ceremonial lecture entitled "Urban Landscapes - Potentials of Construction and Space"."

Prof. Riklef Rambow
Professorship for Architectural Communication