The Competition of Competitions September School | Closing Event
In 2025, three architecture schools of Vienna formed for a second time a partnership to organise an educational project titled “The Competition of Competitions”. For just a few days, international and Austrian master’s students along with Viennese academics have worked together to create visionary briefs for a design competition. The future of the so-called Opel Werk, a kilometre-long building of the former car factory on the outskirts of Vienna was in the focus of this investigation.
An international committee of professionals was invited to revise all submitted briefs. After a collective discussion the jury will award one winning entry, which will be honoured during the public event on September 8.
Program
16:30 – 18:15 h: Presentations and Closing Ceremony
16:30 – 16:45 h: Welcome words by the curators and Michael Rosenberger (MA18, Vienna Municipality)
16:45 – 17:30 h: 5-min presentations of the Briefs by the teams
17:30 – 18 h: The Competition of Competitions. Discussion moderated by Susann Ahn (TU WIEN).
18 –18:15 h: Jury’s talk and announcement of the winners. Presentation of the prize.
18:30 – 21:30 h: Apero
September School takes the form of a contest among several groups of multidisciplinary participants, each led by professors or instructors from three participating institutions. The groups are not going to design anything, but develop briefs for an imagined international competition focused on a specific site in Vienna.
This year’s edition focuses on the highly charged site of the former Opel Werk Seestadt Aspern. Operational since 1982 and closed in 2024, this expansive industrial plant is now scheduled for transformation and repurposing by the municipality of Vienna.
Opportunities for radical rethinking of such significant industrial sites are rare. This collaborative initiative will offer a younger generation of designers and researchers a platform to contribute to the critical discourse around its future—a conversation that has, until now, been largely shaped by city authorities, select experts, and developers.
Participants from diverse backgrounds and disciplines are invited to define a design brief of their own, rather than respond to one that is pre-determined. Together, we will reflect on the purpose of this urban redevelopment project and critically examine the potential of large-scale industrial sites in contemporary cities. Special attention will be given to the functional reprogramming of the existing structure—a singular, one-kilometer-long container that has lost its original use.
Curators:
Ute Schneider (TU Urbanism), Sam Jacob (IoA), Lisa Schmidt-Colinet (IKA), Anastassia Smirnova-Berlin (IKA)
Hosting organisations:
IKA, Institute of Art and Architecture, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
I oA, Institute of Architecture, University of Applied Arts Vienna
Institute of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, Technical University Vienna