Obituary for Peter Ferger

“Yes, this could work”: if, as a young architecture student, you wanted (hopefully positive) feedback from Peter Ferger on the state of your design work, that was often all you got in response. The first few times, that was rather sobering when you had spent days (and nights) trying to bring form and function, construction and material, context and location into harmony in an appropriate way. At that moment, you might have needed a lot of praise and effusive encouragement more than anything else… 

But that “yes, this could work” contained so much more. Peter said it after quietly and intently immersing himself in the drawings and models; I could sense how he was trying to discern, in my sometimes somewhat naïve or (to be honest) often still half-formed design intentions, what was essential, special, and intrinsic. More as a way of assuring himself of the potential contained in the present approach, he would then say: “Yes, this could work.” 

Only over time did I learn to appreciate this, his way of expressing approval. I prepared myself for it by doing the same while Peter was looking at my work. I tried to view my project with as much distance as possible and to understand it as well as I could. Sometimes I succeeded, so that in the end we both came to the (unspoken) conclusion: “yes, this could work”… A beginning had been made, the path became clear, confidence grew — but not through mere flattery, rather through understanding and insight.

To this day, this remains a lesson for my own teaching: to try to recognize the potential even in the most awkward expression of an idea and to help it unfold fully.

And now Peter moves toward his own further unfolding. I am sure he prepared himself for it with focus and calm: “Yes, this could work.”

Prof. Willem-Jan Beeren studied architecture at Alanus University from 1997 to 2003 and experienced Peter Ferger in his final years in the department and at the university.

From beginning to arrival. That, too, is one way to translate architecture. Peter Ferger’s design teaching kept realization in view from the very start of a project. This was also a benefit to Alanus University when he took charge of the renovation work at the Johannishof in Alfter near Bonn and gave the young university a physical home. In this way, students from all disciplines also had the opportunity, during the annual building period, to contribute with their hands to the construction through masonry or carpentry work.

Back in the classrooms of Alfter Castle, Peter Ferger explained his approach by raising his craftsman’s hands and, by feeling his way through intervals of tone, translating them into spatial proportions. The world as a structure of sound, in every form of appearance. He also spoke enthusiastically about the planning and construction of the Berlin Philharmonie, and how Hans Scharoun came from the construction site, took a floor plan from the execution planning, cut it diagonally with scissors, and then reassembled it at a slightly altered angle. All the co-founders of the university had their own way of living boldness in thought and action. Dear Peter, we thank you for your unmistakable touch.

Nikolaus v. Kaisenberg, architect and former Professor of Architecture at Alanus University.