Architekturzentrum Wien
© photograph: Lisa Rastl
How can we build a good future? The focus at the Architekturzentrum Wien for 2025 is on this question. The exhibition 'Abundance, Not Capital. Anupama Kundoo' proposes that we need to unlearn things if we are to reinvent building. And re-education is also called for regarding the most popular form of housing for Austrians, the detached single-family house, as the exhibition ‘Suburbia. Living the American Dream’ shows.
Who hasn’t longed for a big house with a garden and a swimming pool? A quiet and safe place where you can live as a family while still having the city and your workplace within easy reach. The first exhibition of 2025 Suburbia. Living the American Dream traces the history of an idealised lifestyle that originated in the USA during the 19th century and was subsequently exported all over the world — leading, among other things, to large shopping malls and empty town centres. Why is the wish for a house of one’s own still also so popular in Austria? What alternatives are there? How can the approximately 1.5 million existing single-family houses in the country continue be used or repurposed effectively?
All over the world the construction industry has become a driver of the climate catastrophe. In many places, labour is being exploited along with natural resources. At the same time, many people can no longer afford their own homes, which have become financial instruments. From autumn 2025, the exhibition Abundance, Not Capital. Anupama Kundoo shows a completely different kind of architecture. Projects completed by the Indian-born architect defy the logic of capital and the standardisation of the construction industry, as well as binary standards of beauty which insist that architects are either innovative or traditional, either environmentally aware or generous.
In autumn 2025, a regular feature returns: Every two years, the Az W invites young architects to design an exhibition for the Gallery. Next Generation — Next Questions is a stage for the emerging generation and their subjects.
The successful exhibition Toourism, which is dedicated to the impact of our dream holidays on the built environment, the social fabric and climate change, continues its tour in 2025 to several new venues in Austria and Italy.
Hot Questions — Cold Storage, exhibits from the permanent collection of 20th and 21st century architecture, will continue to draw the public. In seven chapters and with a wide range of original objects, it develops interconnections between the holdings of the collection and present day social issues as well as those of the future.
The Az W is providing an extensive programme of events and educational activities for all age groups in 2025, while also offering tailor-made programmes for school groups. The programme ranges from guided tours of exhibitions to excursions, from discussions and symposia to practical workshops. The Architektur.Film.Sommer is once again a firm favourite for the summer of 2025. The Az W film festival has grown into one of the most important summer film festivals in Vienna, attracting large numbers of enthusiastic visitors to the Az W’s surprisingly secluded courtyard.
“As a museum with local roots and an international reach, the Az W has achieved a high level of social impact. The large proportion of young people among the visitors is particularly welcome. Our thanks go to the entire team, who apply their range of expertise and their dedication to communicate what architecture can do to a broad audience. We would like to continue to inspire people in the future with our keen analyses and excellent examples,” say Az W President Hannes Swoboda, Az W Director Angelika Fitz and Az W Executive Director Karin Lux.