Manfred Hegger, my former professor and mentor at TU Darmstadt, a wonderful man and a great architect, whose attitude and work has influenced and impressed me deeply, sadly passed away last week. All who had the fortune to know him are mourning for a visionary in his field, who was able to connect and integrate working on the architecture of the future with real, built form. Many of us owe our careers to his openness for ideas and his tireless support and ability to create networks to bring these ideas to reality. When I first approached him about the Solar Decathlon project in 2003, he gave it a chance, first in a collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University and TU Darmstadt for the 2005 competition, and then, when we returned allowed and directed us, a team of just graduated young faculty, to pursue the German entry in 2007. Because of his courage to take paths unknown, we were able to make an international mark on the future of sustainable architecture and building-integrated renewable energy. Through his vision, knowledge and integrity, Manfred Hegger influenced policy, research and practice to take the strive for integrated energy-efficiency and energy-generation to a larger, multi-family, commercial and urban scale. Prof. Hegger gave all who worked with and for him great freedom and inspired us to go above and beyond.
We mourn with his family and know that they had to share him with us and his pursuits over many years.
He and his ideas will live on in the work of the many colleagues, faculty, researchers and students he has formed and continues to inspire.