Topic
The current political development in Europe, the uprising of national populist movements and parties as well as the political instrumentalisation of the topic of migration require the critical positioning of each and every one of us. Politics – politiká: greek for common affairs – is not like weather conditions that come and go, but is defined each day by all of us. Architecture in this sense does not play an apolitical role, but bars responsibility for the conception of the political climate.
But which political role – namely beyond party politics – do architects really play? Which are the fields of action where architecture is not only a question of design, but also of political position?
The issue of migration has faced Europe with a task not yet tackled. Here the human-rights obligation and economic necessity of integrating migrants, there the uprising of populists that abuse the complexity of the issue to their own success. Regarding our increasingly divided society, integration, it seems, is hardly possible.
Yet, there are places of integration, in particular where the bluster of populists does not reach to. And it turns out that integration is not a one-way street, but concerns local residents just the same as new arrivals. Both are looking for possibilities to feel at home in a socially and economically changing world.
Referring to "Making Heimat. Germany, Arrival Country", theme of German Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2016, "Vienna, Arrival City" transfers the search for strategies for integration to the context of Vienna. What may architecture actively contribute to encourage integration in Vienna? In which locations, by which programmes, and in particular by which architectonic typologies may architecture foster communities of people with and without migrant background?
Goals
Goals of the Design Studio is the critical reflection of architecture in the context of current political developments, the elaboration of the topic, the independent definition of the task as well as the development of a concrete architectonic project in Vienna. The Design Studio requires teamwork of two students each, the results will be presented and discussed with external guest critics end of January 2019, a publication of the results is intended.
Kick-off
Mo., 08.10.2018, 13:00-15:00, ZS 2
