Mensa am Park Foyer Given Brand-New Look Thanks to Ideas from Students
Fifteen students from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar have conceived new interiors and designed furniture for the foyer of the Mensa am Park cafeteria as part of the Bauhaus.Module »Möbel machen Mensa«. The first small series is now going into production in the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s workshops.
Two students will lead the Bauhaus.Module »Möbel machen Mensa« in the summer semester 2022, namely Niels Cremer from the Faculty of Art and Design and Raffael Welter from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism. Following completion of the renovation work in the Mensa am Park last year, the foyer on the ground floor is to now also gain an entirely new look. The aim? To create a space for co-working, physical activity during study breaks, and to facilitate the exchange of information between students and staff.
To ensure that the design really meets the needs, the students are being given a unique opportunity to have a say in furnishing of the cafeteria’s entrance area as part of a Bauhaus.Module. Studierendenwerk Thüringen initiated the idea last semester when the renovation work was in full swing. Interest in this idea rapidly met with enthusiasm among the students: the participation project will give them a unique opportunity to make a lasting impact on the social climate at the university and at the same time on student life with their own spatial design ideas.
Participants in the module from all disciplines have been helping to design and furnish the Mensa am Park foyer since the start of summer semester 2022. »The students gain entirely new perspectives on design and drawing didactics in this way. Everyone has the opportunity to participate in the overall development process and to implement the designs created on a 1:1 scale, as well as to present them to a wider audience in the longer term,« explains Martin Schmidt, who heads the Department of Building Morphology and is acting as the mentor for the Bauhaus.Module »Möbel machen Mensa«.
As part of the planning and design process for the revamp, the course participants conducted a survey of the university’s students at the start of the summer semester. This allowed cafeteria users to have a say in the design for the space. The evaluated survey findings and suggestions were then incorporated into the design concept, which has now been implemented over several weeks. Small groups subsequently began planning the furniture: armchairs, sofas and beanbags are to be set up in the lounge for short study breaks. Tables and benches are also being designed for the Work&Dine area. Table football and table tennis form part of the new concept, too – for a little physical activity during the lunch break. Later, there will be a sharing shelf in addition to specially built room dividers and advertising pillars. Studierendenwerk Thüringen will complement the furniture with plants and cushions to create an even nicer atmosphere. The Willy Schmitz cloth factory in Mönchengladbach will among others provide natural fibre textiles as well as high-density, water-repellent high-tech textiles.
It will be some time still before the new interior design and furniture can be presented to the public however. Course participants are currently building the first small series in the wood and metal construction workshops at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. A selection of the items created will be displayed in the revamped Mensa am Park foyer at the latest during »summaery2022« though. The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s annual exhibition will take place from 14 to 17 July 2022.