Symposium
Long Live the City!
Circular building upon the Existing
Catharijnesingel, Utrecht: A road laid in the 1960s was closed and the subterranean watercourse exposed. This multi-award winning project shows how the urban fabric can be successfully transformed.
© photograph: Antoine Thevenet
This news is not new, while it is alarming: Construction releases large amounts of CO2, destroys biodiversity, consumes non-renewable resources and produces tonnes of waste every year. Moving away from such environmental mismanagement requires radical rethinking, which is what this symposium aims to promote. How can we plan and build within planetary boundaries and how can circularity contribute in this context?
Like most things, buildings can be repaired, they do not have to be demolished and replaced with new ones. Calls to prevent the destruction of existing buildings — currently, for instance, of the old WU in Vienna — but also of neighbourhood structures and existing nature cannot be ignored, but how can this be achieved? And if new buildings are built, how can they have a long life in the future? A central factor towards CO2-free architecture is circular construction, which utilises the existing city, the materials and infrastructure stored in it as a resource that can be used for further planning and construction. How can the transition to circular construction succeed? International lectures present circular projects on the levels of buildings, neighbourhoods and nature, while panel discussions provide an opportunity to reconnect with the local context.
Curator: Lene Benz
Programme
16:00
Welcome address
Angelika Fitz, Director of Az W
Volker Schaffler, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology
Kathrin Gaál, City Councillor for Housing, Housing, Urban Renewal and Women, City of Vienna
Introduction
Lene Benz, Az W curator Sympsoium “Long Live the City”
16:20 – 17:30
Panel 1: Long live the building
(in German)
Lectures
Stephan Sintzel, Esch Sintzel architects, Zurich:
Conversion of a wine warehouse into a residential building and transformation of residential buildings into a large-scale structure
Max Hacke, Gustav Düsing, Berlin: recyclable modular construction – Student House TU Braunschweig
Panel Discussion
Chaired: Lina Streeruwitz, Studio Vlay Streeruwitz, Habitat 2030
17:35 – 18:45
Panel 2: Long Live the Quarter
(in German)
Lectures
Hütten und Paläste, Berlin: Beyond the Existing Building: Preserve – Convert – Expand. U Halle Mannheim / nGbK Berlin
Markus Schadenbauer, Project Developer “Revitalization of the Old Town” Hohenems”
Panel Discussion:
with additional: Bernadette Luger, Resource Conservation und Sustainability in the Construction Industry, City of Vienna
Chaired: Angelika Fitz, Director Az W
18:50-20:00
Panel 3: Long Live the Natural Population
(in English)
Lectures
Tom Wierts, OKRA, Utrecht: Climate-resilient revitalisation of street spaces
Paola Viganò, Brussels: about the porous Urban Landscapes and the circular transformation of neighborhoods
Panel Discussion
Chaired: Lene Benz, Az W