We need to rethink – and fast! Against the backdrop of ecological, social, and political crises, the ubiquitous topic of “Limits to Growth / Building in Existing Contexts” is not a task for the future but begins immediately. The effects affect us all. The handling of our resources, especially in architecture and urban planning, requires creativity and respect above all. This is demonstrated by the current exhibition, “The Great Repair,” which features over 40 positions from architecture and art in which maintenance and repair can be experienced as the design paradigms of our time. “The Great Repair” is not only an idea but a mediator on the topic of sustainability, climate, and the environmental crisis. The exhibition, organized by Arch+ and the Akademie der Künste, is dedicated to intelligent concepts that use grey energy, dovetail new construction with existing buildings, and perceive and take the city and its existing buildings and structures seriously. Key questions include: How does one deal with the advancing environmental destruction and waste of resources? How does one deal with the ongoing conflict between growth and climate protection in favor of market-oriented policies?
The most striking example is the planned construction of some 400,000 new homes, even though 40 percent of global CO2 emissions are attributed to the construction sector. At the heart of the exhibition is the recognition that the current economic system, with its emphasis on innovation, growth, and progress, and its logic based on consumption and waste, has led to a ruthless exploitation of people and nature. The exhibition explores the extent to which the politics and aesthetics of repair can be a meaningful alternative from a postcolonial and feminist perspective. Longevity and reappropriation are thereby explored as politics of a repair society. An extensive program, numerous talks and discussions, workshops, and guided tours for children, young people, and adults will expand the exhibition. It all starts on the opening weekend: in the framework of the “School of Repair,” an extensive program of events will take place to deepen the themes of the exhibition and the positions of Assemble, Atelier Bow-Wow, the Center for Spatial Technologies, Anna Heringer, the University of Luxembourg, Folke Köbberling & Martin Kaltwasser, Lacaton & Vassal, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Mapping Ukraine ETH Zurich, Zara Pfeifer, Bas Princen, Basel Nasr, Natasha Aruri, Sahar Qawasmi, Milica Topalović / Architecture of Territory ETH Zurich, and others.
Text: Milena Kalojanov / Credit: Bas Princen & Holger Herschel
The Great Repair, Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg, Berlin–Tiergarten; map
14.10.2023–14.01.2024 Tues–Fri 14–19h, Sat & Sun 11–19h. Vernissage 13.10.2023 19h.
@archplusnet
