Schaufenster offers anyone interested an insight into student projects from the founding of the HfG in 1992 to the present day. As a window into the university, Schaufenster is a central component of university communication—both internally and externally.

Its intuitive design invites a broad audience and prospective students to explore it in a playful way. At the same time, filter and search functions enable targeted research. Final theses are presented in a highlighted area.

Presentation and archive in one system

Schaufenster is the public presentation interface of the HfG project archive.

The project archive is the central platform for recording, archiving, and editing student projects. It was set up by the HfG's Open Resource Center (ORC) and is based on Madek software developed at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). Together with the ZHdK, the software was further developed and modernized by the ORC.

While the project archive serves the purpose of structured documentation and long-term storage, Schaufenster bundles the projects in a clear, publicly accessible interface. The application thus combines the requirements of presentation and archiving in one system.

Open, independent, and sustainable

Schaufenster offers students the opportunity to present their projects publicly—as an alternative to proprietary platforms and while protecting the interests of the authors. Projects can be submitted at any time via the project and archive platform:
https://madek.hfg-karlsruhe.de
https://handbuch.hfg-karlsruhe.de/de-informal/madek/schaufenster

The Schaufenster code – like that of the project archive – is free open-source software and is licensed under the GNU General Public License. This means that the software can be used and further developed free of charge, provided that the license remains free.

Schaufenster was realized entirely with funds from the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education. The entire code is publicly accessible and maintained by the HfG Karlsruhe. The software, which was financed with public funds, is thus available to the public for (further) use.

Development

Schaufenster was designed and implemented by the Open Resource Center at the HfG. The preliminary work began in 2022 with the acquisition of additional funding from the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education.

The design was developed by HfG alumni Marcel Strauß and Felix Plachtzik. One of the central challenges was to translate the complex architecture of the project archive into an intuitive, clearly navigable user interface.