PressIn the Mode of Seriality Difference, Variation, and Repetition in Architecture and Design

24 July – 18 October 2026

Grafik/Graphic: Florian Eschner

Series open up a play of nuances and differences; of redundancies and repetitions. Any series that has been started can be expanded with similar objects. Objects that are conceived, produced, received, or consumed in the mode of seriality always refer to related objects from the same series. But what exactly makes a series a series? What significance does seriality hold for the design of our everyday worlds, and in what ways does the series allow for individual adaptations? The exhibition In the Mode of Seriality: Difference, Variation, and Repetition in Architecture and Design aims to offer new approaches to the field of seriality. It examines serial strategies and methods to highlight both the potential and the limitations of seriality.

The exhibition offers a historical overview of seriality, whose potential has been realized on the scales of the city, the built structure, and building components. While 20 case studies of outstanding examples in architecture are presented by students from RWTH Aachen University to the public through images, plans, and models, six studies by students from HfG Offenbach explore the theme in the fields of product, communication, and interior design. They discuss the paradox of serial craftsmanship and the possibilities of additive manufacturing in the serial production of road cycling shoes; examine references in interior design and typeface design in the New Frankfurt of the 1920s; and present Hangul – the writing system of the Korean language developed by King Sejong in 1443 – as a generative system. Visitors can thus discover, on the one hand, inventions, product innovations, and manufacturing processes that, when viewed as a whole, trace the developmental lines of the history of technology, and, on the other hand, current critical debates in the field of design.

The exhibition is curated by Prof. Axel Sowa, with support from Florian Eschner, the team from the Department of Architectural Theory, and students at RWTH Aachen University. It is being developed in collaboration with students from the HfG Offenbach under the direction of Prof. Matthias Wagner K. Prof. Norbert Hanenberg, together with students from TH Gießen, contributed to the design of the exhibition furniture.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Wüstenrot Stiftung, the Else Kröner Fresenius Stiftung, the Informationszentrum Beton, der B&O Bau GmbH and the Pacarada Group. Partners include the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development, and Construction, THM Giessen, RWTH Aachen University, and the Frankfurt-based foundation urban future forum e.V.

Press release

Press Images

Prefabricated installation cell with two wooden doors on a truck trailer labeled "Grossversandhaus Quelle Fürth / Bayer".
Row of metal bins with handles in a wooden shelf, some compartments are empty.
Exterior view of a multi-level building with metal staircases and railings connecting balconies with potted plants.
Four black-and-white photos show the assembly of the Prouvé family house from serially produced metal components with several people installing walls and windows.
Nikita Khrushchev and several men in suits observe a prefabricated building model with construction cranes at the 1957 Berlin Building Fair.
Aerial view of a residential area with rectangular and triangular street patterns surrounded by fields and other residential areas.
Concrete multi-story building partially obscured by dense green trees and bushes.
Construction worker stands among tall concrete pillars holding a rope attached to a large crane hook.

Exhibition Images

Please note that the image material may only be used in conjunction with a report on the exhibition and with the citation of the exhibition title in its entirety.