Field Trips #11 Die obsolete Stadt

Many cities are facing a challenge that could also be an opportunity. Many types of buildings and infrastructure that have shaped urban life for decades are losing their function due to social and technological transformations. “If we want to combat climate change, the growth of cities must be consistently directed inward. And that requires resources that apparently do not exist.” This is according to Stefan Rettich and Sabine Tastel in their 2025 publication Die obsolete Stadt (The Obsolete City, p. 20), published by Jovis, which forms the basis for the Field Trips 2026.

Transportation structures, parking garages, industrial buildings, infrastructure, and places of everyday culture are becoming obsolete—often before it is clear what can replace them. Obsolescence is not a random phenomenon, but is closely linked to social and technological transformations: “Today, there are three megatrends that are significantly driving spatial development, some with disruptive effects: digitalization, the transport revolution, and changes in religiosity.” (Rettich & Tastel, 2025, p. 20)

Accordingly, the content of the field trips focuses in particular on those areas where these transformation processes are particularly visible in spatial terms: on structures of the formerly car-friendly city, whose function is fundamentally changing in the wake of transport and mobility transitions; on building typologies and places that are losing importance as a result of digitalization and cultural change; and on spaces that have become obsolete in connection with religious change and the decline of traditional and contemporary everyday and leisure cultures.

There is also another side to the coin: “Against the backdrop of climate-damaging land consumption, it is downright beneficial that buildings are repeatedly falling out of use, becoming obsolete, and creating space for something new.” (Rettich & Tastel, 2025, p. 82) With this in mind, master's students from architecture and spatial planning will travel to European cities in the summer semester of 2026 to address issues of transformation and reuse in the urban fabric. Based on the overall theme, the students will develop their own questions and methodology and process their findings scientifically and journalistically. The focus is less on ready-made solutions and more on reading, interpreting, and thinking ahead about existing structures as a resource for socially desirable transformations.

The course is designed as a master's project in spatial planning. Architecture students can have the course credited as a module (10 ECTS + free electives 2 ECTS).

Registration in spatial planning (via collective registration of all P3) is already closed. Registration in architecture is done via the pool registration of the modules!

The “Field Trips” format

Since 2016, the field trips have provided a framework for master's students in architecture and spatial planning to conduct independent expeditions to a wide variety of European cities. Based on the research focus set out in a research proposal, the groups usually conduct six to ten days of field research using experimental and art-based methods. After the research, it's time to evaluate and figure out how to communicate the findings and bring them back to Vienna!

course content

Design a research plan for (partially experimental) field research on the topic of population development.
Write and present a research proposal.
Independently plan and carry out a research trip.
Collect material in the field using different methods and media and evaluate it scientifically.
Learn to design and implement supplementary communication media (radio/podcast, photography, text) with external input in order to write a scientific report.

Team

Supervision: Madlyn Miessgang, Andreas Bernögger, and Rudolf Scheuvens, future.lab
Tutor: Charlotte Ambs

visiting professorship
Stefan Rettich is an architect and urban planner, as well as a professor of urban planning at the University of Kassel. After studying architecture in Kaiserslautern and Karlsruhe, he founded the KARO* office in 1999 and has since been active in practice, research, and teaching on issues of urban redevelopment, the transformation of existing buildings, and circular urban development. He has taught at the University of Bremen, the University of Kassel, Graz University of Technology, and was a lecturer at the Bauhaus Kolleg Dessau. His research focuses on obsolescence, mobility change, circular typologies, and the transformation of urban infrastructures. Rettich is a member of numerous scientific advisory boards and juries, including the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and the National Urban Development Policy. In 2025, Jovis published Die obsolete Stadt (The Obsolete City), co-authored with Sabine Tastel.

research grant

The Field Trips course is sponsored by the Immobilien Privatstiftung. This enables research grants that can cover approximately 70 percent (depending on the
total costs of all groups) of the costs!

procedure

Phase 1: Introduction (March)
In Phase 1, the groups research their topic and develop a research interest based on it. In two workshops at the beginning, topics and groups are defined and determined together, and the destination of your research journey is decided. Phase 1 concludes with the presentation of your research project. Only after this step are the trips approved.

Phase 2: Application (April/May)
The second phase concludes with a research proposal that outlines the content, methodology, practical aspects, and financial framework of the expedition. Only after the proposal has been approved can the financial resources be finally committed.

Phase 3: Expedition (May)
Between May 7 and May 26, 2024, the teams will independently conduct a six- to ten-day expedition to their respective cities. They will observe, hold conversations, record, draw, play, intervene... and document their findings.

Phase 4: Evaluation and communication (May/June)
The results of the expedition will be evaluated and a report will be prepared based on the application. In addition, a radio report will be edited, photo elements will be created, an exhibition contribution will be written, and an article about the project will be composed.

Phase 5: Completion (June/July)
Closing event: Exhibition, presentations, discussion

The exact dates will be provided via TUWEL in a separate PDF file!

Further information

The course is aimed at master's students in the two fields of architecture and spatial planning. Architecture students can have the course credited as a module (10 ECTS) + free electives (2 ECTS). (Crediting in the sense of a module including supplementary subjects is not possible.)

The course involves working in groups (approx. 3 students, mixed architecture/spatial planning). In addition to support from the course team, there will be input on the topics of photography, radio, and article writing.