#17 Today's new buildings are tomorrow's existing buildings
In Episode 17, Harald R. Stühlinger (Art History, TU Wien) speaks with Astrid Staufer (Building Construction and Design, TU Wien), Lorenzo De Chiffre (Building Construction and Design, TU Wien), Andreas Fogarasi (artist), and Charlotte Malterre-Barthes (architect and activist, EPFL). Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani (architectural and urban theory scholar, Harvard University) joins the discussion online.
Based on the essay “Against Disposable Architecture” by Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani, they explore what planners in urban design and architecture can learn from the past. They discuss the still-relevant Vitruvian triad: firmitas, utilitas, and venustas. These principles serve as guiding frameworks on a journey of ideas toward a sustainable and beautiful future.
Lorenzo De Chiffre is an architect, Senior Scientist at TU Wien, and the author of numerous texts on architecture in international publications. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and the University of East London. In 2016, he completed his doctorate on the topic “Viennese Terrace Housing,” and in 2017 he curated the exhibition “The Terrace House: A Viennese Fetish?” at the Architekturzentrum Wien.
Andreas Fogarasi, born in Vienna in 1977, studied architecture and conceptual art in Vienna. In 2007, he was awarded the Golden Lion at the 52nd Venice Biennale, and in 2016 the Monsignore Otto Mauer Prize. His works have been exhibited internationally, including at Kunsthalle Wien and the Museo Nacional Reina Sofía in Madrid. Fogarasi is represented in major museum collections, including MUMOK and MAK in Vienna. Numerous publications are dedicated to his work; most recently, one of his works appeared on the cover of Arch+ magazine.
Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani studied architecture in Rome and Stuttgart, where he received his doctorate in 1977. After positions at the University of Stuttgart and for the IBA Berlin (1980–1984), he served as Director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt (1990–1995). From 1994 to 2017, he was Professor of the History of Urban Design at ETH Zurich, where he also headed the Department of Architecture and the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture. He has also taught at international institutions, including the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he has served as a visiting professor. His projects include the Novartis Campus in Basel and the Richti Quartier in Wallisellen.
Charlotte Malterre-Barthes is an architect, urban planner, and Assistant Professor at EPFL, where she leads the RIOT Lab. Her research focuses on urbanization, material extraction, the climate emergency, and social justice. At the Harvard Graduate School of Design, she initiated the “Global Moratorium on New Construction” initiative. She is a founding member of the Parity Group and the Parity Front, networks advocating for equality in architecture. Malterre-Barthes holds a PhD from ETH Zurich on the political economy of resources and the built environment.
Astrid Staufer is an architect and professor. After studying architecture at ETH Zurich, she co-founded Staufer & Hasler Architekten with Thomas Hasler in 1994. Her academic career has included professorships at EPFL Lausanne and TU Wien, where since 2023 she has headed the Research Unit for Building Construction & Design. Staufer is active on various advisory boards, including the Commission for Nature Conservation and Open Space Planning of the City of Zurich. In 2015, she and Thomas Hasler were awarded the Grand Prix Art / Prix Meret Oppenheim by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture. Her work is characterized by the integration of research, teaching, and practice, with a particular focus on working with existing buildings.
Harald R. Stühlinger studied architecture and art history in Vienna and Venice and received his doctorate from ETH Zurich with a dissertation on the competition for Vienna’s Ringstrasse. He is currently engaged in ongoing research projects in the field of building culture and the digital mediation of architectural and urban history. He has published extensively on the history of architecture, urban design, and photography from the 19th to the 21st century. In addition, he works as an independent curator and has realized exhibitions at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, ETH Zurich, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, and Vienna City Hall. In 2023, the collective “Parity Group,” of which Harald R. Stühlinger is a founding member, received the prestigious Swiss Meret Oppenheim Prize for its commitment to gender equality in the field of architecture.
Link to the essay “Against Disposable Architecture” by Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani
Podcast information
The podcast ZUKUNFT STADT is a project of the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Planning at TU Wien. It is produced as a collaboration between future.lab and the Research Unit of Local Spatial Planning at TU Wien.
Concept and production, audio and editing: Lukas Bast, Lena Hohenkamp, Lisa-Marie Kramer, and Madlyn Miessgang
Intro music: Jakob Kotal