The new building of the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach certainly cannot have served as a model for the “new Germany tempo”, which the Federal Chancellor has been fond of talking about lately.

It took more than a decade and a half before the plans were shown on Friday: the winning design of the architectural competition could finally be presented.

Of course, there are always plenty of and somehow plausible explanations for why such an important project takes so many years to come to fruition.

Explaining why something doesn't work or not in the foreseeable future - this has been a fatal routine in Germany for many years.

Bernd Kracke, President of the School of Design since 2006, pointed out, happily, at the beginning of the presentation of the draft by the Brussels architects Xaveer de Geyter Architects that the dramatic lack of space from which the internationally renowned art school has been suffering since has been known for many years and was already documented in 2007 in a needs analysis by the state of Hesse.

Urban highlight

Irrespective of this, there is of course reason to be happy: the project can definitely be described as the culmination of the successful conversion of the old oil port, which was once hidden behind opaque fences, into an urban highlight.

Quite apart from the fact that the new HfG building will give Offenbach's reputation as a city of creative people and creative industries a huge boost.

However, it is still unclear whether the winning design by the Brussels architects will ultimately be realised.

The actual call for applications is still pending.

In any case, the construction of the new University of Design should begin in 2026, as the Minister of Science and Art says, so an end to the lack of space for creative students and teachers is in sight.

The future of the previous buildings of the HfG in the core city is still open.

The city of Offenbach wanted to purchase the buildings there from the state.

One look at the budget of the starving city quickly rendered this plan obsolete, so the country continues to call the shots.

Perhaps it will actually follow HfG President Kracke, who advocates making the premises available to HfG graduates as inexpensive studios and start-up offices after the move.

Kracke's charming interjection on Friday has a very serious background: Offenbach's enormously increased attractiveness in recent years inevitably has the negative consequence that young creative people with lots of ideas and often little money are finding it increasingly difficult to find affordable spaces that are also suitable as studios or workshops.

With the appropriate commitment, the country could complete the entire project perfectly.