The Institute of Architecture presents ‘Projects for collective forms of living’ at Vienna Design Week

Based on the work of the three studios at the I oA, the selected projects focus on the point at which form becomes politics and address the question of how physical constructions shape social relationships.
From installations designed to promote debate and exchange, to furniture that hybridises different functional and formal codes, to the dissolution of typical domestic configurations, all three studios share a common interest in the social implications of space and use. The works presented, all developed by students as part of their semester assignments, examine the role of design in relation to its users: as a framework for freedom and control, as instruction or impetus, or as imagined stage directions and performance.

Architecture at the University of Applied Arts
Since its founding in 1867, the University of Applied Arts Vienna has contributed decisive innovations to modern architectural education and practice. Today, the Institute of Architecture (I oA) at the University of Applied Arts offers a three-year master's programme in three design studios that focus on progressive, experimental design in architecture and urban practice. With its international orientation and its well-founded artistic, technical and discursive training programme, the Institute of Architecture produces critical work and seeks visionary strategies that address the most pressing issues of the present and the near future. Architecture is explored in relation to contemporary cultures and societies, urbanisation processes, identity politics, migration, climate change, environmental issues and disruptive technologies. Sam Jacob has been Director of the I oA since April 2025. Sam Jacob has been a university professor at the I oA since 2023. The work of his Studio Jacob in London ranges from urban planning to architecture, design and art to curation, and deals with architecture as representation. The other studios at the I oA are headed by Sam Chermayeff and the duo Lara Lesmes and Fredrik Hellberg/Studio Space Popular.

How to be together – three projects for collective forms of living
26 September 2025 - 05 October 2025
Vienna Design Week, Festival Centre, Hall B, 4., Wiedner Hauptstraße 52
 
Events:
Cocktail: 27 September 2025, 17.00–22.00
Festival Centre, Hall B, 4., Wiedner Hauptstraße 52
 
CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT – Perspectives on Design within history
Discussion with Andreas Fogarasi, Sam Jacob, Johanna Pichlbauer, Sophie Stackmann
29.9.2025, 17.30 Uhr, Meeting Suites by Bene, Weyringergasse 30, 1040 Wien