Recording disasters is not a neutral act, but a creative process. Memories of crisis situations cannot simply be ‘written down’; they must be translated into forms that capture fragmentation, silence, and corporeality. The research-based learning project ‘Flood Memories – Mapping Environmental Crises’, which combines design, architecture, memory studies and crisis research, was dedicated to this endeavour.
Rather than viewing the 2021 flood disaster in the Ahr Valley as a historical event that has passed, the ‘Flood Memories’ project considers it to be an ongoing space of experience and collective memory that requires re-examination. Moving beyond traditional cartography, participants from the fields of design and architecture have developed experimental mapping methods that reveal the political, cultural and social dimensions of the disaster in all their complexity. Using open-source research, on-site interviews, document analysis and digital 3D models, participants deconstruct and reconstruct spatial structures, temporal dynamics and communication and memory processes. The outcome is a series of ‘counter-maps’ that offer new perspectives on the documentation, experiences, and long-term impact of the disaster. These maps challenge idealised narratives and romanticised depictions of the landscape in the Ahr Valley. Participants analyse the social and ecological implications of reconstruction plans, exploring the new alliances formed between human action, the natural environment and cultural heritage. The result is a living memory repository: experimental maps and drawings that serve as a participatory knowledge platform, conveying knowledge of the flood and the landscape inclusively and accessibly, and encouraging dialogue.
The project, conceived by Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler and David Sieverding (Design Theory and Research), ended with a public exhibition.
The exhibition took place from 27–29 January 2026, from 2–6 pm daily.
Venue: TH Köln, KISD, Ubierring 40, 50678 Cologne, Room 240
Presentation: 29 January 2026, 2 pm
The project was developed as part of the Career Cluster ‘Participatory Memory’ (PLan_CV), which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). It was created in cooperation with the following institutions and acteurs: The Cologne Institute of Conservation Sciences (CICS) at TH Köln (Prof. Dr Tilly Laaser); the Faculty of Architecture, MA programme ‘Spatial Strategies’ at TH Köln, the Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler municipal administration (Heike Wernz-Kaiser, Municipal Collection/Urban and Cultural History).
Examples of mappings:
Henrike Hof & Till von Pock, Between Knowing and Warning, 2026
Lucie Wernecke, The Flood, 2026
Photos: Patrick Schwarz, KISD Photo Studio & Aaron Siermann
