In the winter semester 2008/2009, Jörg Leeser, interim professor at the Department for Bauen im Bestand (Building within existing structures) at the University of Wuppertal, and architect Urs Füssler organized a studio they called “Dramatyp” and a seminar called “Findlinge”. In conversation with Candide, Leeser and Füssler explain their teaching approach and how they used Wuppertal’s existing buildings as the primary material for elaborating new architecture. A central question in their approach is: How can the design of individual buildings influence the totality of the city? Bachelor and masters students designed buildings for a shrinking, post-industrial city based on scenarios they themselves developed. The article documents a selection of these projects.