With his concrete shells, Ulrich Müther (1934-2007) made a significant contribution to the architecture of the GDR. The civil engineer and entrepreneur, who was born on the island of Rügen, built a number of spectacular buildings, especially on the Baltic coast. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the "Teepott" in Rostock-Warnemünde and the rescue tower in Binz are among his best-known works. There are also buildings in Berlin, Potsdam, Magdeburg and other regions, including outside Germany, that were built with the significant participation of Müther and his employees, often in cooperation with architects. Early on, Müther specialized in concrete shells constructed as hyperbolic paraboloids. They were mainly used as trade fair and exhibition buildings, as restaurants and as multi-purpose or shopping halls that served the infrastructure in the large housing estates that had been built since the 1960s. With their elegance and lightness, they formed a contrast to the architecture of the GDR, which was often characterized by uniformity. At the same time, Müther's method of constructing thin shells using shotcrete opened up the possibility of a labor-intensive but material-saving construction method. Many of his shell constructions are now listed buildings, quite a few have been properly restored and are in use. Some, however, are still awaiting revitalization, and some are in poor condition due to years of neglect. The controversial demolition of the "Ahornblatt" restaurant in the center of Berlin in 2000 and the associated public discussion have contributed to a growing care in dealing with post-war modernist architecture. Since 2006, Ulrich Müther's extensive professional estate has been kept at the Wismar University of Applied Sciences.
It contains original plans, photographs, documents and models, as well as a specialist library and some technical equipment and furniture. Since April 2017, this collection has been archived and scientifically processed in the three-year project. Made possible by funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the program " Network - Open up - Research. Alliance for University Collections" program and with specialist support from the Baukunstarchiv of the Academy of Arts in Berlin, the Müther Archive is to be developed into a permanently usable research facility. The results should provide impulses for further research and raise awareness of post-war modernism and its special East German character.