Signage for Bielefeld University Main Building

The comprehensive renovation of Bielefeld University’s main building is currently giving rise to one of our most challenging wayfinding projects. For this monumental building complex from the 1970s, we are developing a new information and wayfinding system across multiple construction phases that translates the idea of a “university under one roof” into the present day.

Designed by Herzog, Köpke, Kulka, Siepmann, and Töpper, the building is considered an icon of European Brutalism: a massive, almost city-like organism with repetitive grid structures, high user density, and complex circulation patterns. This is precisely where the challenge of the new wayfinding system lies. It combines inclusion, accessibility, and gender-inclusive communication with the requirements of a modern, flexibly usable campus.

Particular attention is being paid to the further development of the historic wayfinding system. The distinctive design language of the 1970s is not being replaced, but rather reinterpreted—in harmony with the current color and material concept, the corporate design, and future learning and gathering concepts.

The result is a wayfinding system that brings history to life and provides orientation for decades to come. And, of course, the famous “Bielefeld Conspiracy” isn’t entirely left out either: Anyone who claims that Bielefeld doesn’t even exist will likely find very precise counterarguments here, if not elsewhere.

Photos: University of Bielefeld