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SERIEN PERSPEKTIVWECHSEL • CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE

PM: Yes, this book was published three years ago and also takes us back to the begin-
nings of the publishing house. There are hardly any books providing an overview of em-
bassy buildings. The building task is rare, but it reveals a lot about the international re-
lations of states. When you spend many years travelling in crisis areas to provide a bit
more structural security, you inevitably gather insights that need to be shared ̶though
not always in public. You will not find floor plans or details of security elements in the
book. That is taboo. But an embassy building is always also a message from the respec-
tive country. It is always our concern to convince the diplomats to also talk about archi-
tecture in their daily work. We succeed to some extent.

r Your manuals bundle practical know-how, partly on very standard building tasks
such as doctors’ surgeries, partly on very exotic topics such as aquariums or zoos.
You, Dr. Meuser, founded the Institute for Zoo Architecture at Anhalt University of Ap-
plied Sciences in 2020. How fascinating is it to take up such a niche topic?
NM: Our manuals have a similar aspiration to that of our architectural guides: we want
Manuals: Grundlagenvermittlung aus der Reihe „Handbuch und Planungshilfe“ to provide the planning and designing architects with the basics and enable to speak to
their clients. They should be able to penetrate the subject. This applies all the more to a
field such as building for animals. Zoos and aquariums are increasingly realising that the
quality of architecture also contributes to an image boost. Well-designed zoo or aquarium
buildings contribute significantly to the educational mission of these institutions. After
more than 100 years of experience with modern zoological gardens, the question arises:
what is actually being built for whom? In order to fulfil the tasks of zoological gardens, it
is necessary to establish building culture as an essential task in addition to knowledge
transfer, entertainment, species preservation and research. The Institute for Zoo Architec-
ture advocates the academisation of this building typology, but also tries to open the eyes
of zoo directors to good architecture. You just have to stick to the topic and be convincing
in communicating the values. The first successful results are already emerging and are
an incentive for me to continue my mission.

r Mrs. Meuser, you studied interior architecture in Rosenheim, completed your Ma-
ster of Architecture at the IIT in Chicago and were professor of interior architecture
at the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Dessau from 2016 until the end of this
March. This month your new book Geschichte und Theorie der Innenarchitektur ̶
Blick in das Buch Zoobauten: 2016 promovierte Dr. Natascha Meuser über eben dieses Thema. von der Moderne bis heute (History and Theory of Interior Architecture – from Mo-
dernism to the Present) is published. What can we expect on more than 400 pages?
NM: This title fills a gap in interior architecture. History and theory are the foundations
of every discipline. And in my book I want to clear up the clichés of interior architecture.
„Gut gestaltete Zoos und Aquarienbauten During my research, I was surprised myself at how many architects started their careers
tragen wesentlich zum Bildungsauftrag in interior architecture. World-famous architects of recent times such as David Chipper-
field, Hans Hollein or Peter Zumthor began their careers with interior architecture com-
dieser Einrichtungen bei.“ missions. It was also important for me to name the women interior architects who have

Dr. Natascha Meuser been marginalised or simply forgotten in the writing of architectural history. Three extra-
ordinary women ̶ Elsie de Wolfe (1865–1950), Dorothy Draper (1889–1969) or Eleanor
Mc Millen Brown (1890–1990) – have done pioneering work in this field. I am convinced
that the readers of the book will get a good basis for thinking about interior architecture
Dr. Natascha Meuser in ihrer Rolle als Professorin mit StudentInnen an der Hochschule Anhalt in Dessau themselves. It should whet the appetite for more. I can promise that the texts are surpri-
singly entertaining and understandable even for laymen. We have supplemented the
theory with quite wonderful drawings that consistently document 100 years of building
history and show how, by chance, some ideas become fashions.

r Mr. Meuser, you did your doctorate at TU Berlin on the typology of Soviet housing.
In 2017, you received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Ger-
many for the building cultural exchange with Eastern Europe, and since 2018 you
have been an honorary professor at the O.M. Beketov University in Kharkiv. Are you
currently able to maintain contact with the university in Ukraine?
PM: Teaching is now only done online. I was in Kharkiv last November and met with col-
leagues in unheated rooms with boarded-up windows. Almost all the glass in the buil-
ding was broken after two missile hits. Many students are fighting at the front. When you
get such an impression on the spot, when you attend the funeral service for a killed stu-
dent, the war suddenly seems very close. The images in the German media can hardly
Foto: Denis Esakov convey that. We are intensively involved in Ukraine with our architectural office and our

publishing house and have launched the Stories of Ukrainian Architecture programme,
which will be publishing about ten new titles this year alone.

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