Voorgevel van de Herzogliche Technische Hochschule te Braunschweig 1893

This photographic print captures the facade of the Herzogliche Technische Hochschule in Braunschweig. The architectural symmetry is striking, an arrangement of repeating arched windows and formal columns, all pointing towards the pursuit of knowledge. Consider the column, a symbol stretching back to antiquity: From the temples of ancient Greece to the forums of Rome, columns signified strength, stability, and the pillars of civilization. Here, they denote an institution of higher learning, attempting to anchor itself in this tradition. Yet, the column has undergone many transformations throughout history: once carved with ornate details and religious figures, it has gradually become simplified. What does this abstraction signify? Perhaps a turn toward rationality and scientific thinking, where form follows function, and the pursuit of knowledge becomes formalized, institutionalized. The past is never truly gone; it lingers, influencing our present as we unconsciously reach for the archetypes of old.