Think Global, Build Social!

The exhibition “Think Global, Build Social! Architectures for a Better World” at the Architekturzentrum Wien is devoted to the question of contemporary architecture’s social responsibility.

With the jointly conceived exhibition “Think Global, Build Social! Architectures for a Better World” the Architekturzentrum Wien and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum direct their attention to the question of contemporary architecture’s social responsibility.

“Think Global. Build Social!” shows current examples of an alternative, socially committed architecture which, with minimum financial expenditure but a great deal of initiative and creativity, attempts to improve the living conditions of people in less privileged areas of the world.

Rhink Global Build Social — Top: Studio BASEhabitat, Kunstuniversität Linz, Dipl. Arb. Ursula Nikodem-Edlinger, Danijela Tolano, BAYA Kindergarten, Orange Farm, South Africa, 2006 © a_kep Andreas Kepplinger. Above: The Exhibition “Think Global, Build Social! Architectures for a Better World” © Pez Hejduk

Frequently these exemplary projects, which include schools, public spaces and housing, are created through close collaboration with the future users and incorporate local building traditions. They do not deny the needs of those for whom and with whom the buildings are erected and ensure a mutual transfer of knowledge. Linked to early, pioneering examples of a not-for-profit oriented architecture – as represented, for example, by the Rural Studio (USA) since the early 1990s – these works are an expression of the desire for social change and a responsible architecture.

Curator Andres Lepik was responsible for choosing 22 positions in which the long called-for connection of ethics with aesthetics is made in an exemplary fashion. The focus is on buildings that were erected during the last 10 years and whose concrete impact on their location has already become evident. The many aspects shared in common that can be identified in the different approaches and projects indicate that, far beyond “star architecture”, a very different kind of movement has emerged in contemporary architecture that is directing its attention to the social questions of global community.

Building for Orangefarm e.V.: Ithuba Wild Coast Community College, Classroom, Mzamba, Eastern Cape, South Africa, 2010 © Markus Dobmeier

Borde Arquitectos: Esperanza Dos School, Manabí, Ecuador, 2011 © Esteban Cadena

Left: Architects Rudanko + Kankkunen: Sra Pou Berufsschule, Sra Pou, Kambodscha, 2010–2012 © Anssi Kankkunen. Right: VinziRast-mittendrin, building in which homeless people and students live together, Vienna (A), 2013 © Kurt Kuball

Bibliotek, Safe Haven Orphanage, Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand

Studio BASEhabitat, Kunstuniversität Linz, Anna Heringer: METI Schule, Rudrapur, Bangladesh, 2005–2006 © Bauteam, BASEhabitat

From March 15 until June 30, 2014
Think Global, Build Social!
Architectures for a Better World
curated by Andres Lepik
Austrian focus curated by: Sonja Pisarik
Project management DAM by Peter Körner, Philipp Sturm
Exhibition design: Sanaz Hazegh-Nejad and Thomas Kussin, buero8 (Austrian focus)
Exhibition construction Az W: Philipp Aschenberger and team
Architekturzentrum Wien
Museumsplatz 1, Wien

Think Global, Build Social!

The exhibition “Think Global, Build Social! Architectures for a Better World” at the Architekturzentrum Wien is devoted to the question of contemporary architecture’s social responsibility.

Bibliotek, Safe Haven Orphanage, Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand

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