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The 20th Vienna Architecture Congress at the Az W The 20th WAK was a success — with 1,200 visitors and around 50 high calibre architecture theorists and architects, the most successful congress at the Architekturzentrum Wien came to an end yesterday evening. Yesterday evening the 20th Vienna Architecture Congress (18 – 20.11.2016) at the Architekturzentrum Wien came to a successful close. Never before has such a density of internationally renowned architecture theorists and architects assembled for a major exchange of knowledge. To mark the departure of Dietmar Steiner, three days were spent discussing the role of architectural history after 1950. The opening evening spanned the topical breadth of the congress, with the French architect, writer and art historian Jean-Louis Cohen providing a look back over the history of architecture after 1950 with a focus on crisis as a permanent driving force for the architecture debate. This was contrasted by designated director Angelika Fitz, who took a look at what architecture might achieve in the future and the role that an architecture museum can play in this context. The panels on the following days engaged with the influences of the past, on the present and the future of architecture, decade by decade. A discussion of the resulting conflicts and misunderstandings was held by: Wiel Arets, Petra Čeferin, Jean-Louis Cohen, Hermann Czech, Irina Davidovici, Marco de Michelis, Nathalie de Vries, Roger Diener, Marc Dubois, Dagur Eggertsson, Oliver Elser, Angelika Fitz, Kathrin Golda-Pongratz, Anna Heringer, Jacques Herzog, Andreas Hild, Steven Holl, Ulrike Jehle-Schulte Strathaus, Elke Krasny, Rob Krier, Wilfried Kühn, Bart Lootsma, Peter Märkli, Karoline Mayer, Vedran Mimica, Akos Moravánszky, Maroje Mrduljaš, Shane O'Toole, Juhani Pallasmaa, Dominique Perrault, Wolf D. Prix, Bruno Reichlin, Andreas Rumpfhuber, Yehuda Safran, Dietmar Steiner, Martin Steinmann, Stephan Trüby, Jean-Philippe Vassal, Georg Vrachliotis, Wilfried Wang, Ana Maria Zahariade, Mirko Zardini. While the panels concerning the 20th century were primarily about individual narratives, approaches and careers, the two panels on the 21st century spoke increasingly about the socio-political dimension and the social responsibility of architecture, and the political upheavals everywhere, in particular. Agreement prevailed that architecture which exclusively addresses a capitalist, global society runs the risk of losing its credibility along with its independence. Knowing and understanding history appears to be utterly essential in order to be able to create adequate architecture with the tools of today. Even if the participants in the discussions did not paint too rosy a view of the future of architecture there was still an optimistic bottom line and a sense of militancy. Once again, the significance of the architecture museum was highlighted as a place of discussion and the mediation of architecture. |
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Press page Current events Past events Information: Ines Purtauf Tel.: +43 (1) 522 31 15 - 25 Fax: +43 (1) 522 31 17 Email: purtauf@azw.at |
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