Tim Kramer becomes the new director of SQUARE at the University of St.Gallen

SQUARE is the HSG's experimental field for new forms of teaching and learning, which opened at the beginning of 2022. The building, designed by Sou Fujimoto, was realised entirely thanks to private donations. The director is responsible for the development of new learning formats and the broadly defined programme, which addresses not only students but also members of the University, alumni and the citizens of the St.Gallen region. After Philipp Narval stepped down as founding director at the end of October 2023, the position was re-advertised. 

Tim Kramer – a professional with practical and teaching experience

The new artistic director specialises in spatial productions, the playful exploration of new worlds, but also in discourses that constantly shed new light on the roles and challenges of people in a complex world. Tim Kramer knows how to lead ensembles, encourage people and break new ground. 

Tim Kramer was born in Berlin and trained at the John Cranko School in Stuttgart and the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. Engagements as an actor have taken him to the Burgtheater, Volkstheater and Schauspielhaus Wien, the Salzburg Festival, the Staatstheater Wiesbaden and the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern, among others. He has staged his own productions at the Magdeburg Theatre, Wiesbaden State Theatre, Volkstheater Vienna, Klagenfurt City Theatre, Constance Theatre, Salzburg State Theatre, TAK Liechtenstein, Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern and the St. Gallen Theatre, among others. From 2007 to 2016, Tim Kramer was acting director at the St. Gallen Theatre and from 2019 to 2022 acting director at the Magdeburg Theatre. He taught at the Max Reinhardt Seminar for six years and was head of the drama department at the Vienna Conservatory for three years. Since the beginning of the 2022/2023 season, he has been artistic director and coordinator of teaching at the August Everding Theatre Academy. Tim Kramer has been teaching in the contextual studies programme at the University of St.Gallen since 2010.

SQUARE as a place for a change of perspective

HSG President Bernhard Ehrenzeller emphasises that, "Tim Kramer has been working at the interface of teaching, innovative programme management and event management for a long time. He convinced us with his idea of SQUARE as a place for new perspectives, but also with the great creative potential he sees for making innovative learning an emotional experience." 

Tim Kramer is looking forward to the new task. He states, "SQUARE is more than just a place. The building offers an unrivalled opportunity for exchange. After all, it is about analysing human social responsibility in a controversial, complex world. Research, teaching and artistic practice should complement each other in a playful way."