University building in the Federal Republic of Germany marks a period over twenty years dominated by technical Thinking. Planned and built in staggering speed, the vast new universities promised higher education for the masses and were to provide skilled labour for the economic miracle. The phenomenon is outlined along the Buildings for the Bochum University (1962 onwards), the new campus for Marburg University (1961 onwards), the new main building for FU Berlin (1963 onwards) as well as Bremen University (1967 onwards) and Bielefeld University (1969 onwards). Built systems and structures seemed to be adequate strategies in times dominated by technology, the »age of communication and control« (Norbert Wiener). Due to their bigness, indeterminacy and complexity, the new universities were predestinated to give a try on systems theory in planning. During the 1960ies, it became more and more impossible to talk about »architecture« anymore. The rise of this ideology was as rapid as its fall. During the 1980ies it became common sense that the dynamical university structures and built open systems didn’t measure up to the expectations.