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Content All Platforms La Strada Novissima 2 – 3 CMT Riverrun 4 – 5 HTC See-ing Rotterdam 6 – 7 Master Thesis 8 – 11 ADP Definitions of an Island 12 – 13 CMT Arogenesis 14 – 15 ESC ?? 16 – 17 GLC Off-Grid 18 – 19 Learning from... 20

fig. 2 Wool workshop with Folke Köbberling 9th January 2024. Photo by Eva Sommeregger

Institute for Art and Architecture Academy of Fine Arts Vienna Schillerplatz 3, 1010 Vienna www.akbild.ac.at/ika Editor: Eva Sommeregger Translation & Proof reading: Jill Kreuer Graphic design: Beton

Students are mounting an acoustic pannel within the framework of the wool workshop with Folke Köbberling 9th January 2024. Photo by Eva Sommeregger

This Review edition assembles insights into the production, research and events that took place at the IKA during the winter term of 2023.

In the Master thesis works, an overview Economist Clive Spash shared his research on of the diverse architectural practice and public policy with an emphasis on economic thought at the IKA is given: bodily movement and environmental interactions. Karina Grömer, on the site of a pit as both a topic and means archaeologist at the Natural History Museum of investigation, presented in a lecture Vienna, introduced her research on ancient performance and large scale drawings; artistic textile tools and technology, in particular Production: The Bachelor First Year studio research in the format of a film and an essay spinning and weaving. The series concluded was looking into the notion of the street, created as an open space between two rows on Armenian architecture in Anatolia, touching with Wollbau, a lecture by artist and educator upon spatial violence, cultural cleansing and Folke Köbberling about using sheep’s wool of individual building fragments and rebuilt dispossession; personal memories stemming as a multifaceted construction material. In a as a 1:25 scale model. The third semester from fables, myths and fairy tales as integral hands-on workshop, she encouraged students CMT studio proposed interventions for the to combine wool and upcycled materials in covered section of the Vienna river, including components for the design of a house, to be explored in a film; a public underground experimental objects. Further events included a interactive installations that remain dormant world placed into one of Vienna’s so-called conversation with architect Senan Abdelqader, until activated by flood events, simulated in Urban Heat Islands, inspired by the material Ines Weizman and IKA students and the a water-carrying 1:200 scale model made of exhibition entitled Bordering Plants. Co-curated actual Viennese earth. The fifth semester HTC technologies employed by termites to generate a cooling effect on the surroundings; by Adam Hudec with Carmen Lael Hines and studio experimented with different ways of a research into the city of Vienna’s infamous Roberto Majano, the exhibition addressed the visual representation as a means of designHeldenplatz deconstructs the square’s status fields of contemporary art, critical theory and based research into the political aspects within architectural image policy in the case of as a backdrop and reveals novel perspectives architecture/design practice considering plants on it being protagonist to a political debate; as objects, typologies and taxonomies. Rotterdam. flood retention basins at Vienna’s city borders Antje Lehn and Eva Sommeregger The Master ADP studio focused on modes of re-presenting island-like structures, become the grounds for speculating on how to differently engage with suddenly occurring metaphorically alluding to social phenomena changes in the environment. in contemporary society, focusing on notions of duration and becoming. In order to investigate evolutionary processes and Research and Events: YEAH, BUT IS IT adaptability to different environments, each technology? Yes, of Course! was the title student in the MArch CMT studio developed of the lecture series, curated by Michelle a physical space, item, or construction that Howard, Adam Hudec, Veronika Miskovicova is based on the genius loci of the Kunstraum and Eva Sommeregger in collaboration with Buchberg, a castle in the Lower Austrian UMPRUM, the Academy of Arts, Architecture Kamp valley. The ESC studio focused on and Design in Prague. Its lectures looked using pivotal design questions, such as ›What into specific ways of working with lines and is it / What could it be/ [..]What for?‹ as a threads, often depreciatively termed »craft,« springboard for developing individual project to elevate and contextualize them within proposals. In the GLC studio’s students the framework of technologies. The Indonesian investigated what it could be to architecturally architecture office IBUKU presented an operate off the grid: To create concepts with impressive bamboo roof construction with different logic and propose solutions that curvatures in two opposite directions. suggest a certain disruption of orders that are Anthropologist Tim Ingold linked the themes of ruled centrally. environmental perception and skilled practice.

La Strada Novissima

All Platforms BArch1 studio

Daniela Herold Luciano Parodi

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Design Studio BArch1 Matthias Baltauf Veronika Beißer Clemens Buzzi Katharina Chen Luzian Dorner Samuel Haas Antonia Hupf Ferdinand Keyl Felizitas Khuen Belasi Valentin Klose Pannella Erik Kräutner Fabia Emma Landerl Marie Leihener Mariia Nargan Lilly Oehler Elena Maria Romatzeck Viola Sunny Aurora Schafler Alexandra Thaller Ilia Vachev Frédéric Zikes Guest Critics: Aristide Antonas, Christina Condak, Christina Jauernik, Rebecca Merlic, Valerie Messini, Lisa Schmit-Colinet, Werner Skvara, Anastassia Smirnova, Norbert Steiner, Wolfgang Tschapeller, Susanne Zottl Collaborators: Günther Dreger, Damjan Minovski, Angelika Schnell, Rüdiger Suppin, Gerlind Zeiler 2

Cross section / common drawing by Studio Strada Novissima

The street of the future should be made for people of all ages and for all living beings, because practicing architecture means creating habitat for all. To achieve this, we must dissolve the thresholds and apply the same care and dedication with which we are currently designing interior spaces to the outdoors as well. Our strada works towards that. It became a space of active participation, a space of diversity and density. It is a composition of expanded, open and intimate spaces. We wanted to create an environment for interaction among diverse entities, spatially creating opportunities for accidental encounters. These values resonate within the forms of our buildings. The space that cars usually occupy is now dedicated to trees that give shade during summer, to green spaces, to water streams and to spaces where one can relax and enjoy the atmosphere. Each building along our strada allows public space to extend into its interior. We also strive to leave space empty for life to unfold in a wide range of possibilities. The decision of not planning the street down to the last detail is also an architectural one. These empty spaces are to promote ephemeral interventions like pop-up markets, theater, cinema and similar events. We are experiencing rapid changes within the fabric of our society. Our architecture needs to be adaptive to these changes. This is an excerpt from a manifesto students wrote at the end of a semester long study and parallel to a collaborative design of a street. Students were confronted with the very complex constraints and criteria the formation of a street is based on, right from the start of their studies. With the manifesto they attempted to reflect on their experiences as well as their wishes and desires of what a street should look like and offer in the future. Their design consisted of 20 individual buildings that were lined up in two opposing rows framing the street as a void between

them. It was built as a model at a scale of 1:25. This exploration and collaborative design refers to the curatorial concept of an exhibition called La Strada Novissima which was installed during the 1st Architecture Biennale in Venice in 1980. Under the direction of Paolo Portoghesi, 20 architects were invited to reflect on the notion of public collective space. Each of them was asked to develop a segment of the street in the spirit of an architectural self-portrait, which was then translated into a 1:1 facade and placed in line with the others, so that visitors could interact with it. We revisited this idea of composing a street out of several characters more than 40 years after this installation by focusing on following topics and questions: What elements generate the space of a street? Who are the protagonists along our street and how can they contribute to a spatial design and form? As in our reference project we asked each student to represent and create one character. By portraying colleagues and translating their bodily characteristics into forms and structures students themselves became the main figures shaping the street. We started with free hand drawings capturing the body in different positions, and hard line drawings of the sketched figure introduced scaling and the techniques of architectural representations. Abstraction drawings of a favorite position allowed for further explorations and the translation into a variety of analogue models. The protagonists became buildings or at least building fragments with specific components. What are the main settings that define our strada? What is the framework that enables the creation of a street space as a shared action? We needed a set of rules and regulations to respond to, a kind of

masterplan, for bringing the protagonists together and for constructing a street sequence. The given layout was simple, 10 plots each of a width of 10m attached to each other facing another 10 plots on the opposite side. The width of the street could vary between a minimum of 10m to a maximum of 20 m. The height of the buildings conformed with the typical Viennese block height of 20 m. It was important to ensure that light served the lower floors; the sharing of architectural elements among neighbors was also key while the developed figures were placed in row. The position of each individual fragment was negotiable as well. What kind of atmosphere should the strada have? How do the individual buildings react to the urban space? What are they offering? Can they stimulate and initiate activities? And what is the relationship between the outside space of a street and the interior space of the buildings? By orchestrating a route from the outside to the inside and back, each student was asked to create strong as well as ambiguous connections between these two spaces. We developed the thresholds and interfaces and studied the boundaries of the compiled architectures. We produced architectural elements out of the given figures and implemented them to create an interaction with the street. A cantilever, a canopy, offsets, niches and arcades, free ground floors, slopes, stairs, shadings, sitting or resting elements, spaces for gathering as well as shelters provided ideas for fluid transgressions, as well as the way they might be used or inhabited.

1 Title of an installation at the first architecture Biennale in Venice in 1980

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Portraits and enactment by Fabia Landerl

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Character studies by Clemens Buzzi

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Figures and embodiment by Samuel Haas

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Thresholds and performance by Frédéric Zikes

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Looking at the Strada Novissima / group model. Photo: Lorenz Seidler, esel.at

fig. 1 Earth gathered by RIVERRUN students from both sides of the river Wien, in a pile that follows the Wien at scale 1/200 from Rüdigerhof to Stadtpark, surrounded by different model experiments with earth, wax, formwork and water. Photo: Michelle Howard

fig. 3 The soil from the Wien is shoveled aside to make way for the construction of the inclined and vaulted water carrying system representing the river Wien at a scale of 1:200. Photo: Fabio Hutter

fig. 2 Exploring the »Experimental Biozone« at Amálie, a site belonging to the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, where a vast site serves as a hub for diverse experiments intertwining water management and species diversity. Our focus was drawn to a recently developed pebble stone terrain, which impressively retained river water for a fortnight before gradually releasing it at the lower end. Photo: Eva Sommeregger

fig. 4 Final water carrying 1:200 scale model of interventions taken on the area from Rüdigerhof (right end) to Stadtpark (left end), in which the river Wien is covered and hidden from the city’s fabric. The almost two tons heavy earth used for the model is original Viennese soil (Wiener Tegel) and has been collected by the RIVERRUN students from two different Vienna underground construction sites: Bacherplatz in the fifth district on the orographically right riverbank and Augustinplatz in the seventh district on the orographically left riverbank. Photo: Eva Sommeregger

fig. 5 Collage 1:200, Musikverein team project (Mika Gahlen, Tatiana Herreiner, Anna-Lena Helmer, Jakob Vranek) covering the area from Karlsplatz to Schwarzenbergplatz

fig. 6 Willow workshop in Prague during a collaboration with studio Planet B at the UMPRUM under the umbrella of »aquatic alliances« 4. Photo: Adam Hudec

Riverrun

Michelle Howard Eva Sommeregger

CMT Construction Material Technology BArch3 studio

fig. 7 Treasure installation entitled »Sustainability Begins with the Model« (Nachhaltigkeit beginnt mit dem Modell), shown at the Nachhaltigkeitsforum 20–22 October 2023, Atelierhaus der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien,3 in which the Platform CMT | Construction, Materials & Technology Bachelors and Masters students exhibited with projects in and around the river Wien. Concept models made from natural, found and recycled materials (»treasure«). The resulting film following the water plays through the length of the installation and can be viewed on vimeo.com/935762635. Photo: Leon Keyl

Design Studio BArch3 Rüdigerhof Team Madlen Suntinger, Paul Tschimmel, Prajna Manandhar, Aliki Peristeraki

Naschmarkt Team Ruxandra Ursu, Sára Detrekői, Lieselotte Krammer, Luisa Locher Karlsplatz Team Valentyna Smahliuk, Emma Klarmann, Thuy-Justine Nguyen, Noah Löffler Musikverein Team Mika Gahlen, Tatiana Herreiner, Anna-Lena Helmer, Jakob Vranek Stadtpark Team Tim Netzband, Leon Keyl, Fabio Hutter, Maite Ilija Hernandez

1 Wienfluss-Hochwasserschutz. in: Stadt Wien, Wiener Gewässer (Magistratsabteilung 45), wien.gv.at/umwelt/ gewaesser/hochwasserschutz/wienfluss/ (retrieved 2024-April-05) 2 https://soundcloud.com/wienerbeschwerdechor-music/ wo-ist-der-wienfluss 3 https://www.akbild.ac.at/en/university/Graduates/ events/2023/sustainability-forum-in-vienna?set_language=en 4

https://www.planetb.fun/aquatic-alliances

Nearby, Paul Tschimmel’s fog catchers, a vast tensile structure, capture mist from the river, humidifying the air and creating a refreshing atmosphere. Beneath the fog catchers, Prajna Manandhar’s market stalls and seating areas provide inviting spaces for people to gather. These areas are nestled among open waterways that crisscross an engineered ground, facilitating rainwater filtration, temperature regulation, and biodiversity growth. Further underground, Aliki Peristeraki’s subterranean labyrinth manages water flow and storage, minimizing evaporation and preserving water quality. This innovative system ensures that water resources can be recycled for various purposes, such as washing and cleaning, with minimal exposure to external contaminants. In Ruxandra Ursu’s vision for the Naschmarkt area, green spaces and waterways are integrated into the landscape, offering both aesthetic beauty and practical rainwater collection. At the end of Kettenbrückengasse near the former Marktamt, three additional stalls complement the design, enriching the market experience. Two-way car traffic is restricted to Rechte Wienzeile street to prioritize pedestrian accessibility, while Linke Wienzeile street is made traffic-free, seamlessly merging with Naschmarkt and extending into the surrounding urban environment. Sára Detrekői’s innovative pedestrian bridge spans atop the historic market stalls, linking the Austrian Press Agency’s rooftop in Alfred-Grünwald-Park to the southern perimeter block of Naschmarkt. This architectural feat enhances connectivity and urban mobility, with a network of ramps and bridges facilitating access throughout the market area. Meanwhile, Alfred-GrünwaldPark, renowned for preserving the Wien’s alluvial soil, undergoes a transformative landscape sculpting by Liselotte Krammer, showcasing hills and ditches that unveil historical layers. Luisa Locher introduces a sustainable Looking ahead, a series of thoughtful water management system, utilizing a interventions are planned for the covered suspended network of pipes to differentiate section of the Wien, from Rüdigerhof to between rainwater, greywater, and purified Stadtpark, aimed at raising awareness greywater. Extending from the north to among residents about the river’s presence, the south facades, this system ensures power, and ecological significance. These efficient water usage for temperature control, interventions include interactive installations contributing to environmental sustainability. that remain dormant until activated by flood Valentyna Smahliuk’s project invites events, signaling the river’s presence within people to explore the Wien’s cooling the city. A striking 30-meter-high fountain designed underground spaces at the beginning of Linke Wienzeile street. Emma Klarmann’s park by Madlen Suntinger stands at Rüdigerhof, repurposes the former Friedrichstraße, linking where the river disappears beneath the cultural landmarks like the Secession building concrete vault. During floods, the fountain and liberating the Verkehrsamt building from harnesses the increased water level and pressure to spray water into the surroundings. its status as a traffic island. Justine Nguyen

The city of Vienna (»Wien« in German) derives its name from the Wienfluss, or river Wien, which originates in the Vienna forest to the west of the city and flows into the Danube Canal. During heavy rainfall and flooding, the river’s capacity increases significantly, rising from its usual flow of 200 litres per second to a staggering 450,000 liters per second, owing to its extensive catchment area.1 Originally an untamed watercourse, the Wien once meandered freely within Vienna’s boundaries. However, human intervention over time has reshaped how it flows. In the early 1900s, a flood protection system was constructed along the city’s western border to mitigate flooding, while the river itself was regulated and constrained, and its once broad expanse was narrowed into a deep concrete channel. This transformation was driven by the need for inner-city development, including housing densification, expanded thoroughfares, and the introduction of Stadtbahn urban trains. Additionally, a two-kilometer stretch of the river was entirely covered by a concrete vault to reclaim more space within the city centre. Flooding, occurring approximately six times a year during the summer months, often go unnoticed by the general populace, because the river, now confined and channeled, flows either detached from the urban fabric or underground as it traverses the densely populated inner city. Inspired by the Wiener Beschwerdechor, who sang the song written by Willie Landl called, »Wo ist der Wienfluss?«2 (»Where is the River Wien?«) we asked Where is the Wien hiding? In Karlsplatz, its absence is biting. Once intertwined, Vienna’s heart and soul, Now lost beneath concrete control. Bring back the blue, the willows tall, Let floodplains thrive, reclaim it all. No more tunnels, no more divide, Let the RIVERRUN outside!

transforms Girardi Park into a vibrant wetland, fostering biodiversity and rainwater retention through interconnected ponds and waterpermeable walkways. Further enhancements include Noah Löffler’s overgrown scaffolding, providing a unique flyover experience above the Karlsplatz intersection and facilitating ventilation from underground passages. Mika Gahlen’s refurbished streetcar rails act as pendulums, dynamically communicating the water levels of the river below with the city’s surface. Tatiana Herreiner’s »rain gardens« at Resselpark promote sustainable rainwater management, employing cascading retention ponds and wetland ecosystems for purification. AnnaLena Helmer’s intervention repurposes asphalt from street shrinkage, creating a symbolic gesture towards uncovering and reusing the Wien. Within this revitalized green zone, Jakob Vranek’s interactive sculptures engage visitors by dynamically responding to the river’s water levels, fostering awareness and connection to the urban ecosystem. Tim Netzband’s creation »An Oasis of Biodiversity« sprawls across the former northern section of Lothringerstraße, now transformed into a tranquil haven. Wooden walkways meander through terraced beds of meticulously chosen plant species, inviting pedestrians to slow their pace and immerse themselves in nature’s embrace. Adding to the sensory experience, Leon Keyl’s metal structures adorn the roof of the Akademisches Gymnasium, doubling as both rainwater collectors and providers of refreshing showers. Their presence creates a unique soundscape that enchants passersby, enhancing the atmosphere of the area. Meanwhile, Fabio Hutter’s visionary redesign of Beethoven Park introduces a harmonious blend of water and greenery. Rainwater collected from nearby buildings feeds into the park’s landscape, forming gentle waterways that wind through the terrain. Even the concrete wall of the underground parking garage, facing the river Wien, is repurposed into a lush microcosm, slowing the flow of water and facilitating its integration back into the river. Further downstream, Maite Ilija Hernandez’s pavilion stands as a beacon of innovation within Stadtpark’s riverbed. This architectural marvel seamlessly combines rainwater collection and filtration, utilizing a bamboo structure suspended from the riverbanks to bridge the gap between land and water. It serves as both a functional space and a testament to the symbiotic relationship between urban development and ecological preservation. 5

See-ing Rotterdam

HTC History Theory Criticism BArch5 studio

Angelika Schnell Antje Lehn

Floating Farm / Selin Caner The Floating Farm, a swimming cow farm, designed by Goldsmith Company in 2019, represents Rotterdam’s pragmatic and at the same time visionary attitude when looking toward the future. Selin Caner used the site on the river to collect and collage its predecessors such as Biosphere II, Walking City or the Vertical Green House in Vienna to discover its potential.

Spangen / Luke Handon The Justus van Effen complex in the district of Spangen is an iconic social housing complex of the early modern movement. It was designed by Michiel Brinkman in 1919 and became famous for its wide galleries that provide access to the upper levels. Luke Handon collaged historic photographs of different periods, from 1919 to the present, which mostly show people who use these »streets in the sky« as a transitional meeting point, to demonstrate its durability over time (including also one of its successors, Robin Hood Gardens in London).

Design Studio BArch5 Karlotta Lou Bohacz Selin Caner Zoé Cyrille Frithjof Dally Bruria Davids Luke Handon Pau Hauschildt Dóra Kovács Valerie Mauerhofer Nicole Onstad Laurin Saied Julian Schönborn Florian Schüly Michelle Sintschenko Moritz Tischendorf

Van Nellefabriek / Valerie Mauerhofer Van Nellefabriek designed by Brinkman & Van der Vlugt between 1925 and 1931 was Europe’s first daylight factory (for tobacco, coffee and tea). Its outstanding transparency became most paradigmatic and critical at the same time in one of its smallest units, the bathrooms. Valerie Mauerhofer amplified this transparency by scanning one of the bathrooms with a point cloud software in order to discover all possible »transparencies«.

On 14 May 1940 the German Luftwaffe bombed the city of Rotterdam and destroyed almost the entire center. Only a few days after that terrible event, where around 800 people were killed and 80,000 made homeless in just 13 minutes, the city administration began with its first plans for the »wederopbouw«. With a certain defiance, Rotterdam has since celebrated itself as always being the »nieuwste stad«. Fifteen projects have been selected as being representative of Rotterdam’s ambition to be the city that is always new and modern. Fifteen students chose one of

these projects each in order to experiment with visual strategies and methods which demonstrate the image policy of architecture subject to a political will. Various techniques and tools were explored with the support of guests and an on-site visit. A two-day workshop with Thomas Freiler on experimenting with different camera obscura techniques provided a connection to the famous »realistic« attitude of Dutch painting in the 17th century that, according to art historian Svetlana Alpers, was and is a specific way of »picturing« reality. Claudia Koch accompanied the studio by lecturing

on Dutch paintings of landscapes and cityscapes. An excursion to Rotterdam provided the first opportunity to test the different visual techniques by taking pictures with different cameras (camera obscura box, professional lens or smart phone), by simply observing the buildings, by mirroring them, by distributing them, by scanning building parts, by drawing them or creating collages out of fragments. Finally, each student chose an individual format for their »design-based research«, an artistic technique that allowed for an interpretation of the history of visual policy of the project.

Centraal Station / Michelle Sintschenko The Centraal Station, Rotterdam’s main station, was erected after WWII but needed a facelift again in 2014. Benthem & Crouwel designed the new spectacular roof and also inspired an additional project, the Luchtsingel, a 400m long pedestrian bridge that reconnects areas and was crowdfunded (design: ZUS). Since infrastructural buildings can’t be understood as being empty, Michelle Sintschenko wrote a fictional discussion among three photographers about whether or not images of architecture should include people.

De Bijenkorf / Pau Hauschildt Even though the department store De Bijenkorf designed by Marcel Breuer between 1953 and 1957 is used today as any department store (containing the usual brands), Pau Hauschildt took photographs that show its potential as architecture.

Schouwburgplein / Dóra Kovács Schouwburgplein, the central public square named after the adjacent theater and concert hall has been »undesigned« for decades. The concept developed by West 8/Adriaan Geuze realized between 1991 and 1996 was spectacular but did not work exactly as conceived. Dóra Kóvacs wrote a play for this raised square/stage on which its own complicated and partly comical story is performed.

Kubuswoningen / Moritz Tischendorf The Kubuswoningen, a structuralist housing scheme, designed by Piet Blom in 1984, was also born from crisis. It was to attract people to the city center to live again. Its bizarre shape has made it one of the most popular architectural projects visited by tourists today. However, Moritz Tischendorf analyzed and interpreted its critical history in the context of the potential of structuralism.

Lijnbaan / Florian Schüly Definitively, the Lijnbaan, Europe’s first car-free zone for shopping, offices and housing, designed in 1953, became Van den Broek & Bakema’s most renowned project. Florian Schüly looked back at the times when the Lijnbaan was a (also visually) quiet place for people taking a stroll by visiting and picturing it only by night when fewer people and less aggressive ads do not disturb the calm.

Markthal / Frithjof Dally The new covered market hall in the city center, the Markthal designed by MVRDV, between 2009 and 2014 unfortunately has become a touristic fast-food area. Frithjof Dally provided a redesign that should return the colorful market life to the local inhabitants.

De Peperklip / Laurin Saied After the first optimistic postwar years, the beginning criticism of architectural modernism provided the first »anti-functionalist« projects. The architect Carel Weeber designed De Peperklip, a social housing complex built on the »wrong« side of the river Maas (in the south), in 1982 that was conceived as a powerful »gestalt«. In an essay Laurin Saied compared it to the »super blocks« built by the Socialist Vienna and Oswald Mathias Ungers’ concept of »Großform«.

Depot Boijmans van Beuningen, / Karlotta Lou Bohacz MVRDV’s »bowl-like« design (2013–2021) for the Depot Boijmans van Beuningen, an extra depot building for the museum’s rich collection, was more successful. Its mirrored façade prompts people to take selfies and inspired Karlotta Lou Bohacz to make a digital animation movie that depicts the mirroring of contemporary media culture.

Kunsthal / Bruria Davids After the city’s municipality decided to develop the Kop van Zuid and further areas of previous port areas in the South, fresh new projects eventually enhanced Rotterdam’s reputation of being the »city of architecture«. One of the first was a new museum for contemporary art close to the Boijmans van Beuningen. The Kunsthal, conceived by OMA/Rem Koolhaas in 1987 to 1992 used the collage technique for its design. Bruria Davids analyzed its ambiguous appearance in a dossier that collects various perspectives on the building.

Erasmusbrug / Julian Schönborn Certainly, the Erasmusbrug – built between 1994 and 1996 – has become Rotterdam’s most iconic new building. It stands for the jump across the river and made its architects Van Berkel & Bos famous. The story of this deliberate and positive propaganda bridge was compared by Julian Schönborn to Vienna’s Reichsbrücke, which was built to help develop the eastern side of the Danube River.

Het Getijdenpark/ Zoé Cyrille Het Getijdenpark, a larger area of the former port has been transformed into a public ecological park by different landscape architects of the municipality between 2018 and 2023. It stands for the problems and the constant changes of the climate crisis. These ideas inspired Zoé Cyrille to experiment with different plan representations to demonstrate this critical state.

Pendrecht / Nicole Onstad After WWII people needed housing. One of the few modern female architects designed the social housing project Pendrecht in 1949. Lotte Stam-Beese was a member of »Opbouw« and wanted to provide affordable and functionalist housing schemes. Nicole Onstad was interested in the invisible role of women in architecture and design. Hence, she overlapped pictures of women in the streets of Rotterdam or next to iconic designs (by men) in order to »see« their reality today.

Master thesis, advisors: Hannes Stiefel, Luciano Parodi

Anna Orbanic The Breathing Ground (Sub-)terranean architecture as an environmental instrument

The Breathing Ground is a research and design project that explores breathing systems and develops an earthbound building designed for a time of extreme climate conditions. The building – through its shape, physiology and vertical extensions – is seen as a climatic apparatus, providing a new public space underground where temperatures remain stable throughout the year. Mound building termites and the National Theatre of Vienna inspired the development of this design proposal.

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Anna Orbanic, axonometric view of the earth building

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Anna Orbanic, street perspective

A vacant lot was selected in one of Vienna’s urban heat islands as the experimental site for this project. The construction of the building will excavate the underground spaces, allowing the ground above to expand and form towers exposed to the wind. As the whole structure grows, it will create an underground network and provide a cooling effect for neighboring buildings and the surrounding urban environment.

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Anna Orbanic, above ground, performative garden

Master thesis, advisors: Margit Brünner, Aristide Antonas

Master thesis, advisors: Angelika Schnell, Andreas Spiegl, Bettina Henkel

Marcella-Malin Brunner The Pit

Iklim Dogan Ruins Talking Back

What if we were not to differentiate between sources of movement but rather make it all about the movement itself?

Cultural cleansing with architecture as its medium

The project is aimed at constructing a design method that is inspired by curiosity and the longing to understand what a body is able to do. It follows the process of understanding the intuitive behavior of the body and its more sensitive, empathic ability. It is a learning process, testing and practicing, by generating a variety of experiences. What do sensory exploration and the ability to empathize as a quality mean in the practice of architecture? What happens when the body becomes actively involved in the process of design? The project is grounded in the various responses to my encounters with the place that is reflected in the produced material. A comprehensive collection of videos, film stills, drawings, models, text components, installations and performative elements that clearly give evidence of my engagement in the process. It is multifaceted, full of subtle details, comprising various media and resulting from a variety of tactics. The Pit is both »site of investigation« and »site for investigation«. What I do is generate a variety of experiences and revive intensely felt moments over and over again through different tools and media. It is a looping of the production of generations of a particular moment of intensity. I visit the place and allow my body to respond, a process I repeat on all possible levels. And the exciting aspect is that it is always different. And this constant variation enables me to come to know the location. This is how a connection is formed. This is how a relationship is formed. I enter into a relationship with the location.

Ruins Talking Back is an artistic research attempt that investigates the architecture of the Armenian past in Central Anatolia over the last hundred years, which was rendered invisible, through the diagnostic frame. The project attempts to associate the past with today’s psycho-social and historical reading of Anatolia and discusses architecture’s impact on spatial violence, cultural cleansing and dispossession with a critical focus on trauma, ideology, nationalism and historiography. By analyzing the trauma aspect of ideological constructions and collective amnesia, the essay tackles the question of whether and how it is possible to refer and represent the altered or disappeared fragments of architecture and how historical trauma is interwoven with historiography and architectural writing. The film searches for the remaining traces of the denounced ruins and dislocated stones of the Armenian past in Anatolia. Presented as a journey by train, the film associates the fragmented stories of the Armenians who were deported in 1915 with other migrants who later inhabited the Armenians’ homes, and discusses architecture’s impact on spatial violence, dispossession and erasure. The film journey is a collection of site-specific research, archive pictures, diary entries, and collages with film stills.

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Marcella-Malin Brunner, Kunstlandschaftsplan: Instructions, Encounters, Interventions, Body-on-site-experiences

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Iklim Dogan, Ruins Talking Back, film stills

Master thesis, advisors: Wolfgang Tschapeller, Luciano Parodi

Master thesis, advisors: Angelika Schnell, Luciano Parodi

Kathrina Duller Liminal Memoir

Nikolaus Podlaha »Der ganze Heldenplatz zirka« »Approximately the entire Heldenplatz square«, Cross-sections and projections of a democratic space

Drawing inspiration from fables, myths, and fairy tales can create a transformative experience in architecture, evoking a sense of wonder and enchantment. Physical manifestations of the imaginary worlds found in fairy tales can be recreated by harmoniously integrating structures with the environment. The concept of Liminal Memoir in architecture takes this connection further, incorporating tangible objects and mementos. The ambiguous nature of emotions one encounters in such spaces can range from discomfort to excitement, disorientation to creativity, and from vulnerability that threatens to one that can be embraced. These experiences ignite a desire for change and transformation. By incorporating storytelling skills inherent in these tales, structures can engage with and immerse inhabitants in a sensorial experience that is rich in symbolism and metaphor. Such designs can bridge the gap between the past and the present, connecting individuals to the essence of their humanity. In this way, these timeless stories offer a wellspring of inspiration for creating architecture that resonates with individuals and, in turn, leads to transformative experiences. This necessitates a Liminal Memoir: a reformed, colorful, hairy, multi-layered spatial experience. A space where corridors open up into a seemingly endless abyss. Where levels lead the consciousness far from the body, high above the surface, where small transitions between large spheres prompt us to change ourselves. It calls for a moment of glitch, where possibilities are endless moments of exploration. This project uses a house as a canvas, where a tale was written and three imaginary worlds were created. After 3D scanning the house, occlusion caused the element of glitch to emerge. When part of the object being scanned is obstructed, the scanner cannot capture the entire object resulting in an incomplete or inaccurate 3D model. However, instead of viewing these glitches as mistakes, they were embraced as moments of potential. These glitches were used to create imaginary worlds, seizing the opportunities that arose from the unexpected. Each world inhabits a figure, representing one season. We start in winter and end in summer. The core of this thesis is a ten-minute film, which shows parts of the house, the imaginary worlds and the figures living there.

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The importance of public space appropriated for the manifestation of a collective will has become all the more apparent considering the growing number of post-democratic structures that appear to be ever more permanent fixtures in our political system. From Place de la Bastille to Euromaidan, urban squares have been the epicenter of revolutions where a democratic urge to act is manifested. In the case of Vienna, Heldenplatz (Heroes’ Square) as a central political arena seems a clear choice on the one hand, but on the other it also has to bear an unusual burden arising from its historical role. The rally following the 1938 Anschluss of Austria still casts its shadow over the square, as expressed in a collective paralysis in approaching the site, and only now are civil society movements beginning to slowly resolve this tension. To this day, it is caught up in a constant process of negotiation, be it about the use of public space, the interpretation of its historical heritage or the updating of its urban design. It is against this background that an attempt is made to reveal, bundle and contextualize various levels of its historical, social and collective perception. Using seven cross-sections and projections, different aspects of the square’s character will be deciphered, placed in relation to each other, thereby allowing a new perspective to take hold. The aim is to introduce a new reading of Heldenplatz as a democratic space, making it not only the setting, but also the expression and subject of a political debate.

Kathrina Duller, Liminal Memoir, film still

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Nikolaus Podlaha, annotated plan of Heldenplatz

Master thesis, advisors: Wolfgang Tschapeller, Damjan Minovski

Doctor of Technical Sciences, advisors: Michelle Howard, Arya Assadi Langroudi

Vincent Wörndl Of Fluvial Events and Interstitial Space

Solmaz Kamalifard A Phenomenological Study of Light and Shadow as Stimuli for Occupants’ Experience

The flood retention basins at Auhof in Vienna represent what was intended as a protective infrastructure for the city, holding back rapidly rising floodwaters. The structure represents a race to raise a wall has or else see the city suffer flood damage. This thesis speculates about a subversion of the intended function of this infrastructure within its focal point and using it rather as a point of confluence of - and therefore heightened - environmental volatility. In this way, the infrastructure is reinterpreted as a seedbed for constructing a built environment that engages, plays and even succumbs to environmental volatility. The basins become a place of renegotiation of our relationship with physical environmental phenomena that seem to disrupt our current modus operandi. In other words, what can we learn from living within a flood retention basin?

This dissertation studies patterns of light and shadow in space as a source of interest and stimulation that enriches occupants’ spatial experience. The question raised in this research is whether and how occupants’ experiences are associated with patterns of sunlight and shadow, and what would be the effects of architectural composition, sky conditions, and sun position on that association. A phenomenological approach is deployed to delve into the characteristics of the lived experience; the approach revolves around our understanding of the link between sunlight and shadow patterns as they appear in reality and individuals’ impressions as they happen in real built environments. The use of ›real environments‹ is a mitigation to the to-date over-emphasis on virtual and simulated environments or photographs in experiments that have shaped the current body of knowledge. Thereby, an appreciation of people’s experiences in a real-world situation as they occur in everyday life is yet to be established. The emphasis is put on comparing individuals’ perceptual responses to different light and shadow scenarios (direct and patterned, direct and plain, indirect). As daylightdriven visual effects depend on dynamic sky conditions and sun position, this dissertation seeks evidence to establish whether sky conditions (clear or overcast) and sun position (morning, midday, and afternoon) change visitors’ experiences of space. The principal aim is to: 1) understand the connection between the composition of light and shadow (direct and patterned, direct and plain, indirect) and viewers’ visual interest; 2) evaluate the impact of light and shadow variation due to sky conditions (clear or overcast) on visitors’ subjective ratings for evaluative impressions (pleasure, excitation), and visual perception (clarity, complexity, spaciousness); and 3) assess the impact of light and shadow variation due to the sun’s position (morning, midday, afternoon) on visitors’ subjective ratings for evaluative impressions (pleasure, excitation), and visual perception (clarity, complexity, spaciousness). Three field studies were undertaken in Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque in Isfahan, St. Charles (Karlskirche), and Donau City Churches in Vienna. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 135 participants to determine which features had supremacy over others. A semantic differential scale questionnaire, made up of 10 pairs of bipolar words about perception, was completed by 270 participants to collect data about their perception of space. This dissertation suggests that both sky conditions and sun position impact individuals’ evaluative impressions and visual perception. In particular, impressions of pleasure and excitation enhance when direct light compositions are present. Variation in light and shadow patterns’ intensity increases visitors’ sense of pleasure and excitation. The striking patterns of light and shadow appear to be the most exciting and attractive spatial components in study environments. The findings highlight the significance of striking light and shadow patterns as a driving factor in the spatial experience, pointing to a new direction in designing buildings that are not only comfortable and energy-efficient but also pleasurable and exciting for their occupants.

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Vincent Wörndl, selected models

Definitions of an Island Aristide Antonas

Design studio MArch Angel Dodov Claudia Sofia Asccencao Fernandes Ronja Keßler Franziska Räder Dana Radzhibaeva Ludwig-Valerius Rieger Fabian Schwarz

The studio focused on a work of representing island-like systems. The structure of islands is often linked to representations of isolated enclosures; open perspectives of promised futures are also often related to time structures detached from the experience of the everyday; prison-like isolations were also examined as places where humans could dream of transforming their form of life. Organized differently on a social level, island-like systems could be identified as forming both heavenly structures and prison formations at the same time. Two texts served as mapping this double approach; on one hand the old short novel by Adolfo Bioy Casares »The Invention of Morel« opened the door – in an oblique way – to the world of artificial intelligence; the second text, the short essay »Desert Islands« by Gilles Deleuze, introduced the workshop to the world of alternative promised lands.

The Deleuzian concept of re-beginning described the island structures as laying the groundwork for the imaginary of the political, for different forms of life. Bioy Casares describes a dystopia of incarceration by technology. Utopia by Thomas More – also an island – always includes a double-sided view of experimental practices necessarily proposed as refusing the canons of normality in different ways. The topic at its most ambitious is related to controls of becoming and to representations of duration, analogous to music scores and choreography notations. Is there a political side to this type of score or notation taking? Is the breaking of prepared durations the only way to guarantee that the concepts of freedom can arise? A set of idiosyncratic approaches explained some aspects of these open questions.

ADP Analogue Digital Production MArch studio

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Franziska Räder, Dwelling on islands: a case study in empty office spaces

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Ludwig-Valerius Rieger, Axonometry – Section – View up

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Otto Jaax, model, final presentation. Photo: Mario Buda

Eike Fiedler, model and drawings, final presentation. Photo: Mario Buda

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Otto Jaax, site-specific installation. Photo: Mario Buda

Sofia Antunes Gameiro, site-specific installation at Buchberg. Photo: Mario Buda

Arogenesis Susanne Zottl Norbert Steiner

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Eike Fiedler Sofia Antunes Gameiro Otto Jaax Mariana Prezanta-Campero

Introduction Arogenesis [Greek. aros = use, genesis = emergence, origin] describes a rare exceptional case of an evolutionary process where a small group of species transitions from one zone to another, thereby opening up new habitats. This transition usually occurs relatively quickly, and many groups may perish in the interzonal spaces without reaching the new adaptive zone. The process results in a new fragmentation, leading to the development of key characteristics that contribute to a specific »building plan« – an evolutionary trajectory. Dancing Leaps of Thought It is difficult to predict where our environment, society and built surroundings will evolve to. We will be accompanied by systems, structures and materials that respond to constantly changing demands, to everevolving aspirations and objectives and to everything that is yet unknown from today’s point of view. We postulate that architectural fragments, themselves created in dancing leaps of thought, will offer solutions to questions that have not yet been asked – the resilient anti-specialist or the »social climber« of evolution. The Time Capsule Exposing ourselves to »a time capsule addressed to unknown recipients«, we test and develop arogenetic strategies that interact with the existing fabric, as well as with the surrounding nature.1

Uwe Mattheiß, An Essay on Buchberg

MArch studio

Otto Jaax, The Platform, acetone print. Photo: Mario Buda

trajectories through interzonal spaces

Design studio MArch

CMT Construction Material Technology

Goal The evolution of a millennia-old discipline – architecture – is perceived as a rather languid process. Its complex tasks are paired with a high level of responsibility, which contributes to this conception. Like a steamroller, it

appears to travel through time and space. (How) Can we shape the path that seems to be predetermined by regulations, traditions, approved building techniques and materials, budget, tight schedules, etc.? The experiment in design means, on the one hand, allowing coincidences, inaccuracies, influences from other disciplines, such as art, psychology etc., to act as a design vehicle. On the other hand, it provides a glimpse of desired environments. The goal is to ignite an independently developed vision as the »carrier rocket« of design. One impulse activates the next. There are no mistakes and no wrong decisions because every change of course opens up new territories, and the process is always in motion, in transition from one zone to another. The project resulted in built space / an object / a construction that is grounded in the genius loci of the Kunstraum Buchberg, which was consequently developed with a particular sensitivity towards the natural landscape and the existing context, and which also extrapolates the gained insights so as to add to the architectural discussion and the future range of building techniques and products. The architectural steamroller is still on the move, albeit differently. Buchberg and the Kamp Valley The studio included a study trip to the Kamp Valley in Lower Austria. Our project site was situated in the Kamp Valley, focusing on the Buchberg Castle, located at the bend of the river Kamp. Our work took place both inside and outside the Buchberg Castle. By establishing Kunstraum Buchberg within the historical fabric of the castle, our hosts Gertraud and Dieter Bogner have created a unique location for constructivist and conceptual art. As the founder of the Kiesler Foundation Dieter Bogner also is a rich and active source of information and

anecdotes about Friedrich Kiesler. Works of art are implemented within the structure of Buchberg Castle. Our exploration involved the interzonal spaces of the river Kamp throughout the Kamp valley, along with the hydroelectric power station and the medieval castle with its Kunstraum Buchberg and landscape gardens. The »Interzonal Laboratory«, a workshop at the Kunstraum Buchberg, started the semester. It began with a guided tour by Gertraud and Dieter Bogner through the castle and the landscape gardens, along the river Kamp, to the electric power station. The work proposed where Buchberg should be heading and focused on physical models and large-scale drawings, along with personal observations and documentation. The first show of the works from Buchberg was on display during our Open Studio on October 17, 2023. From June 22-23, 2024, the work of this intense semester is exhibited at The Open House at Kunstraum Buchberg – an event featuring site-specific installations in and around the Castle, including the works of the CMT platform.

ESC Ecology Sustainability Cultural Heritage

Hannes Stiefel

MArch studio

Design Studio MArch Olivia Ahn Lena Gössel Paula Hattenkerl Elena Mücke Aliena Rumpf Sarah Schädler Johanna Zucker

Architecture is hassled from all sides. Any Tu ne sais plus qui tu es, qui tu as été, tu sais que tu as joué, tu ne sais plus ce que tu as joué, objection to a destabilizing appropriation of architecture must be found within architecture ce que tu joues, tu joues, tu sais que tu dois itself, through architectural design for and in jouer, tu ne sais plus quoi, tu joues. Ni quels sont tes rôles, ni quels sont tes enfants vivants critical environments. A master studio is, among others, a step – ou morts. Ni quels sont les lieux, les scènes, or many – towards and preparation for the les capitales, les continents où tu as crié la passion des amants. Sauf que la salle a payé et Master’s Thesis Project. The studio’s goal was, based on the platform’s qu’on lui doit le spectacle. topics, to learn to develop within a semester a comprehensive design proposal for an – Marguerite Duras, Savannah Bay architecture of a desirable future, one that is based on each student’s very own concerns This is about an ESC Master Studio. So, it is about ecology, sustainability and architecture; and excitement about our common world. about space, buildings, yes, and environments The formulation of such a project may be the most demanding task possible within – and organisms, including you, me, us, them. architectural studies, and comprehensiveness And it is about design, which means has not really been achieved. Entwerfen in the tradition of ESC studios However, other goals were achieved, goals developing models: Architectural models, that emerged during the design process models for buildings, models for desirable over the course of the semester, when all futures. participants continued with the flow of an That’s it. In the beginning there was no title, open studio. A surprising result in the form no picture, there was no specific theme, of the final presentation was the merging of no predefined content besides the abovementioned context. There was no designated seven fragmented individual projects into the overarching performative form of a true site nor a particular program. collective experience. With that experience Though there were questions. Mine, theirs, we now can return to the initial questions ours. And there was perception, experience. and start the process all over again. Again, There were skills too. and again, in cycles, towards a formulation And a goal. that can sustain as a piece of architecture in There was a studio structure, and a method. flux. The method was a method of descriptions – Does work come out of work? with the underlying questions: How can we not have time? What is it? Does form follow the step into the unknown? What could it be? Is diversity the essence of education? What might it become? How did it happen? What for? How is it / can it be done? These questions were aimed at structuring Is it true that walls are meant to separate? all of the production. And production was Sind anhaltend fortlaufende Irrtümer statische supposed to be the core of the studio. oder dynamische Phänomene? Title, theme, content, site, program, material Do we do what we truly need to do, or do we and materiality, this all was up to each do what we think someone else is expecting individual student. All of these aspects were discussed and debated in the group of studio us to do? Why architecture? members. The studio structure assisted in decision making. To decide, to make, to reflect. Why does it look like how it looks like? Must the inner logic of a project with critical Decisions need to be made even in the face of doubts or insecurities – and we might have claim reflect all the logics that dominate the to learn once again to dare to make mistakes. critical discourses at the time of its creation? Is countercyclical action still possible? – or There is no wrong decision, just alternatives, and the question of what one makes of them. even allowed? Is a slap in the face of public taste considered To decide, to make, to reflect. To Decide, to make, to reflect – mantra-esque to be violent and must therefore be condemned? – by whom? and by design.

Too tired to tell? Do decision makers see poorly? Who decides? What happens if applied criticality shows its opportunistic face? Are you sure? Will tomorrow know it different? Really? When is a building a model? What are the environmental functions of architecture? And what are potential architectural functions of environments? Is distinction the perfect continence? Does an architectural work emerge from drawings of distinctions in space? Is living in a detached house cynical? Is it worth it? For whom? Where will people live? Could it be that the Danube Island is Austria’s most sustainable construction? What was the public opinion on this matter at the time of its realization? Are errors close to their effect? Does knowledge die with the knower? What are most of the conversations actually about? Are acclimatization and habit formation reversible within the life of an individual? How far can we expand the territory of our doubts? What sort of intentions would allow you to design counter-worlds and counter-worlds to counter-worlds? Does a thesis have to be true to justify thinking it through? Thinking by design? What are the instruments to measure the results of architectural production? Will architecture be able to resist falling off the narrow ridge between the arts and the sciences? Are you looking for answers to your questions? And to the questions of others? Through design? Will we enter – for better or worse – a new era of architecture without architects? When will we know? (…)

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Final Performance 1, Questionmark Studio Members with Guest (Claudia Bosse). Photo: Hannes Stiefel

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Final Performance 2, Questionmark Studio. Photo: Olivia Ahn

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Antonia Autischer, Battle of Plans

Off-Grid

Anastassia Smirnova-Berlin Alexander Sverdlov

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Design Studio March Antonia Autischer Martin Eichler Alexander Groiss Moritz Schafschetzy Paul Schurich Roxane Seckauer Sebastian Seib Marie Teufel Julia Wiesiollek

GLC Geography Landscape Cities MArch studio

View of the Final Exhibition. Photo: Anastassia Smirnova-Berlin

The notion of the grid, which usually refers to traditional utility systems provided by cities or to a classical urban planning scheme, is central to this studio. In our case it also serves as a metaphor for all those well-established, often rigid structures of the past that can be updated, rethought or abandoned altogether in response to major societal issues. Going off-grid therefore means developing concepts with an alternative logic, proposing solutions that imply a certain disruption of centrally governed matrices. In times of ultimate co-dependency and digital connectedness, the Off-Grid studio Studio investigates opportunities for selfreliant experimentation and productive solo action. The focus here is on autonomous circuits which are independent from, for instance, municipal energy sources or wellestablished information networks. Revisions of modern classics on constructive dissociation — How To Live Together? by Roland Barthes, No-Stop City by Andrea Branzi or Less is Enough by Pier Vittorio Aureli, — form the basis of the studio seminar. Researching of famous artistic escapees — Absalon, Lucy MacRae, and Joep van Lieshout among others, — help the participants to formulate their very personal rationale for an off-grid prototype. Which communities are being formed off-grid and why? What kind of alternatives to state-owned or commercial infrastructure could be developed as a critique of the status quo? What role could design play in creating spaces for nonconformist living? How can existing built forms be inhabited in a new and unorthodox, yet efficient and inspiring way? Studio participants were encouraged to start with the familiar context: To investigate Vienna’s historical structures of Vienna and explain them as complex constellations of micro and macro grids. Based on their research, the next step was to articulate the most acute problems or identify the future off-

grid potential of these typologies, both at the spatial and the programmatic levels. Special attention was given to everyday routines and scenography of use, with particular emphasis on possibilities for incremental improvements that might bring about radical change. In accordance with IKA’s specialization, students operated on terrain shared by art, design and architecture, developing concepts which in many cases transcended conventional disciplinary divisions. Studio Timeline Assignment 1. Understanding the off-grid phenomena. Individual vlogs Each team member researches a particular type of the off-grid space or looks at architects/artists who are known for their disruptive strategies. The production of individual 5-10-minute video blogs based on this investigation research prompts discussions about the choice of personal thematic focus. Lecture: Early Off-Grid Communities. From the Architecture of Hermitages to Carthusian Spaces by Anastassia Smirnova-Berlin Reading salon: Less is Enough by Pier Vittorio Aureli with Alexander Sverdlov Assignment 2. Field-trip to Roosenberg Abbey by Dom Hans van Der Laan (Belgium). While spending a day in an abandoned monastery, students collect a variety of materials for a special exhibition module dedicated to architectural theories and practices of the Dutch architect-monk. On-site lecture: A New Design System, or How to Create an Alternative Convent? by Prof. Caroline Voet (KU Leuven, Belgium) Assignment 3. Individual project briefs. Short texts. Every studio member develops their rationale for a project and writes a problem/opportunity

statement alongside a short explanation of a particular thematic focus. Lecture: (Re)Writing Briefs by Anastassia Smirnova-Berlin and Alexander Sverdlov Peer-to-peer exercise: Let Me Explain Your Project Idea to Everyone Else Assignment 4. Know your grids. Research and Analysisanalysis Discussion of the project goals leads to research of selected typologies, be it an apartment, a building or an urban cluster. Supporting grids are identified and studied according to the project objectives. Students apply a variety of methodologies such as surveys, interviews, mapping, timelines, photo documentation, in-situ drawing, soft atlases, etc. In-class workshop: Drawing the Grids with Alexander Sverdlov Assignment 5. Design concept Work on the off-grid prototypes begins with a search for relevant references from the history of art and architecture. All team members start building their individual image banks to support ideation and to develop particular visual languages. Trial run: A Concept in Five Minutes with Profs. Hannes Stiefel and Aristide Antonas Assignment 6. Exhibition layout Team members are divided into three groups, each responsible for a particular aspect of the exhibition: 1. Video projections, 2. Displaying of drawings/images, and 3. Van der Laan (field trip) exhibit. Ideas developed in the groups are then distilled into a more coherent curatorial plan for the studio as a whole.

Learning from…

Interview with Nasrine Seraji, conducted by Anastassia Smirnova-Berlin Any good school is constantly reinventing itself. The IKA operates in a very specific territory at the intersection of architecture and art, offering its own system of coordinates for the study of both the theory and practice of design. To understand how educational strategies might evolve under the pressure of planetary issues, and how the institute might (re)define its identity in times of tectonic shifts in the field of architecture, Prof. Anastassia Smirnova-Berlin discusses the future with a select few from the pool of former IKA educators. The series of interviews begins with a collection of thoughts by Prof. Nasrine Seraji.

Prof. Nasrine Seraji is a Franco-British architect born in Iran. Founder of a multidisciplinary design practice in Paris, she is also well-known for her bold curatorial thinking in the field of architectural education. In the last decades, she has defined the agendas of such prominent institutions as the department of Architecture at Cornell University, École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture Paris Malaquais, and the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong, among others. The current structure of IKA entailing five research platforms was developed by Nasrine in collaboration with the faculty during her directorship at the institute between 2006–2012. On contemporary architecture practice »Some well-known offices of the twentieth century, instrumental in turning the pages of architecture history, have currently fallen very quiet. They have not disappeared, but they are busy reinventing their approaches or adapting to a very different set of conditions.« »In a matter of decades, architects went from horizontal drawing boards to vertical screens and, recently, to working distantly, within large, distributed networks.« »Today, critical architectural practice can only happen in schools.« »My generation of architects who studied at the AA were experimenting with architectural drawing as a new form of language. We were drawing imagined scenarios as a critique of, and a commentary on reality, following the examples of Twelve Ideal Cities by Superstudio. Today new practices have identified global warming, scarcity of material, socio economic inequality – in other words the »real« – as the generative force for rebuilding the damaged environment.« »Thirty years ago, we were working with abstract ideas anchored in our societies. The fathers of architecture (not many mothers were on the public scene yet) had taught us to propose imaginary projects that were speculative, risk taking, and thought provoking. These projects placed architecture amongst other intellectual disciplines. Drawing was the tool for conversing and contributing to the major debates of our times. Today, we see this process being reversed: Real situations have become starting points. These situations are then exported into the abstract language

of drawing and description (i.e. Atelier Bow Wow’s Made in Tokyo). Then everything is translated into possible sites of action for other realities. In these impossible times of »image as reality« the only way to make architectural design relevant is to fight the image or use it critically, as for instance Forensic Architecture has been doing for years. This implies the end of abstraction. I call it: Learning from reality!« »It is urgent to work toward decarbonizing our environments as well as our curricula.« »Practices, such as BC architects and Rotor in Belgium, Joly et Loiret in France or Assemble in the UK have made it impossible for other architects to continue to work as if climate deregulation didn’t exist. They have managed — to a certain degree — to change the general mindset of the construction industry. The big useless architectures for the 1% fortunes are extinct.« »Architects need to think more about un-building.« On the question of beauty »There is a very fine line between what is considered a visually pleasing and intelligent architecture that questions the »status quo« and an architecture that becomes almost ridiculous because of how much its aesthetics cost us emotionally and economically. There are many buildings that claim to be »ecological« that are both ugly and amongst the biggest carbon emitters.« »We need to re-read and re-draw the notions of beauty, re-read Vitruvius, re-read Ruskin, re-read Viollet-le-Duc and of course re-read Koolhaas on preservation. History needs to be our tool, theory our method and drawing our language; only then can we make our buildings beautiful again.« »Today, clients have different sensibilities and sensitivities. They do not need strong iconic images to represent themselves anymore. Despite a common denial of climate change, despite the fact that architects still largely work with the production modes from the previous century, clients want a green (washing) narrative. It is often an illusion they are after, rather an impression, but still it is a new demand.«

therefore, architects who understand the language of »host buildings«, their proportions and materials, will always be able to contribute to the delights of architecture.« Decarbonizing the curriculum »The eternal question is: Are we teaching a vocation or are we educating? Should we continue to teach history the same way we did in the twentieth century? Should we still ask students to write 10,000-word essays in which 7,000 words will be authored by ChatGPT? Do we really want the students to be ready to practice in the present and work for firms that are desperately hanging on to twentieth century modern ideals? Or are we preparing them to critically respond to their time and environment and to constantly question and problematize any issue they are confronted with in the future? I am an advocate of the latter.« »It does not matter whether the students are going to study for a PhD or to work in an office after their Master’s degree. It is essential to know how to critically and analytically question the history of our discipline in order to actively contribute to its future.« »The best practices today are primarily about intelligent transformation of existing buildings or researching the use of non-extractive material. This requires a set of particular skills and methods that can be learned and values which should be articulated.« »In fact, we need to teach students how to do research that is daring and risk taking. Research is not only about writing a paper or thesis, nor is it what has always been called a site analysis. But it is all about uncovering knowledge that is invisible to the uncritical eye.« »Architecture, like research, is slow and that is perhaps the only thing that will save it«. »Architects draw. It means that they are obliged to know - to imagine! - how things come together. Students who have difficulty drawing usually have trouble imagining a coherent whole through the sum of its parts.« Why IKA?

»Architecture of the future will be built according to very different conventions of beauty. It will be about repairing the existing;

»IKA is an architectural school and an art gallery, as well as a place for contemporary

debate. The immediate proximity of the pieces of art that lay claim on the production of space makes this place unique. To be able to walk down a few steps and see, say, Hieronymus Bosch’s triptych is not only a treat but also an incredible lesson in selfcriticism.« »It is very important to compare methods that are used in architectural design and in the arts. Our architectural reviews are often about the »how« of things. In the painting or sculpture classes next door, artists speak about the »why« of things with their students.« »Artists like Harun Farocki, who taught at the Academy, were instrumental in initiating ideas that were much discussed in the field of architecture only decades later. In his film In comparison, Farocki demonstrated how bricks manufactured in Somalia and bricks produced in Switzerland are different materials – politically, economically, and culturally. Artists can definitely help us to accelerate the adoption of this kind of critical inquiry in architecture.« »It is enough to look at Pinterest today to see that most of the drawings have become a kind of graphic storytelling. Some architects reach out to artists such as, Eva Le Roi and ask them to situate their projects within a context, showing territories of action. It is no surprise that axonometric and isometric perspectives are again the main drawing types. Architecture students describe explain their ideas as new realities beyond the abstraction of the plan.« »The drawing conventions of the twentieth century are being challenged. Most young architects have switched to a storytelling mode after the publication of books like Climate Changed by a graphic novel artist Philippe Squarzonie. Today, drawings resemble the Chinese scrolls of the tenth and eleventh centuries: They depict ways of life beyond the city.« »On IKA’s territory there are many options to collaborate with artists on various media and search for an alternative composite architectural language to tell different stories. Very few schools in the world can offer that.« »It is urgent to hack the system, and architects and artists have both the methods and the tools to do so – likely by working together.«