Event description

News • Grand opening of KreativInstitut.OWL

After just 1.5 years of construction, the KreativInstitut.OWL was officially opened by NRW Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur. A building with modern infrastructure has been created for researchers and creative professionals from the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences, the Detmold University of Music and Paderborn University. In close co-operation with the cultural and creative industries, new impetus is being provided for the sustainable development of the region!

Date

Thursday, 11. January 2024

Location

Kreativ Campus Detmold Bielefelder Str. 66a

Vice President for Knowledge and Technology Transfer Prof. Dr René Fahr, Chancellor of TH OWL Nicole Soltwedel, NRW Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur, President of TH OWL Prof. Dr Jürgen Krahl, Rector of Detmold University of Music Prof. Dr Thomas Grosse, Director of KreativInstitut.OWL Prof. Dr Guido Falkemeier
(© TH OWL)

More space for creative professionals in the region

Last year, a new building was opened on the Kreativ Campus Detmold, which has now been officially inaugurated by Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur. The timber hybrid building is primarily characterised by its unusual timber façade, facing Bielefelder Strasse at the entrance to Detmold. The extremely short construction time and the fact that the project budget was adhered to despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine are remarkable. The project, which is subsidised by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), aims to strengthen the region and the regional cultural and creative industries. The aim is to address current topics from the cultural and media landscape through close cooperation between business and science on a project basis.

"The very small-scale creative and media industry in particular needs low-threshold locations where many players can come together and creative ideas can emerge. Such a place thrives on interaction and creativity. I am therefore all the more pleased that we were able to realise the KreativInstitut.OWL together with the EU"

Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur

The building's open architecture and variable furnishings create new opportunities for dialogue between business and science. The composition of the staff is also particularly

"This is unique in Germany in that it brings together researchers from a university, a university of art and music and a university of applied sciences under one roof. This opens up completely new perspectives on the current challenges in the cultural and creative industries in the context of artificial intelligence and the ever faster pace of media change"

University President Professor Krahl

Working at KreativInstitut.OWL is also intended to awaken the potential in creative minds to take the plunge into self-employment with new ideas for media products. This provides creative professionals in East Westphalia-Lippe with a further contact point for networking.

"I still enjoy seeing creative minds tinkering with their ideas on the ground floor in the evenings. This is supported by the somewhat unusual furnishings. In addition, the generous use of wood as a building material contributes to a pleasant atmosphere. People are trying things out, researching and thinking creatively"

Professor Falkemeier, Head of KreativInstitut.OWL

The creation of such infrastructures in a short space of time and the cooperation between various universities also delighted NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes, who sent a digital greeting from Düsseldorf.

The realisation of this project was made possible by the cooperation of the regional players and the good project management, in which the trades worked hand in hand. In addition to the wooden façade, the small windows in the stair towers create a special charm. The longitudinal façade shows its character through large window fronts in timber frame construction and the small loggias. The architecture, which is unusual for Detmold, is continued inside the building with an individual colour and furnishing concept. True to the motto: "Green is the new black", attention was paid to many details in order to realise the design holistically.

After the festive speeches and the opening ceremony with a brief insight into digital media production, the guests were able to immerse themselves in the world of KreativInstitut.OWL. In the open media labs, there was plenty to discover, from virtual worlds and sound installations to interactive music notation and games. As a special highlight, the anechoic chamber could be "heard" and experienced.