Supporting Talents
Under the guiding principle “Supporting Talents,” Felix Schwake taught fundamental methods of professional visual representation for architecture and design at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. The lecture series was aimed at emerging architects and designers and began on June 6, 2012, with strong public interest and participation.
The focus was not solely on teaching technical software skills, but on understanding spatial representation as an integral part of architectural design practice. Digital tools were therefore not treated in isolation, but understood as instruments for the precise communication of spatial ideas.
The eight sessions were structured around six thematic areas:
- Fundamentals of 3D modeling with Cinema 4D
- Free modeling and the development of complex free-form geometries
- Light and illumination
- Materiality and texturing
- Photorealistic rendering
- Advanced instruction and individual support for student projects
Particular emphasis was placed on the relationship between technical representation and architectural atmosphere. Light, material, perspective, and spatial effect were not taught as purely graphic effects, but as tools for the development and communication of architectural ideas.
Alongside the lecture series, Felix Schwake supervised numerous diploma and semester projects. Shortly before examination phases, students received direct support regarding representation, spatial legibility, and the design refinement of their work.
The courses consciously understood themselves as fostering design judgment rather than merely providing software instruction. The goal was to enable students to represent architecture not only with technical accuracy, but also with atmospheric clarity and spatial conviction.
The lecture series therefore already revealed an attitude that would later become central to the academic work of Felix Schwake: representation is not decoration, but part of architectural thinking itself.
Photos: Henriette Drüke