“The carnival is the only time of the year when people take off their masks.”
Popular proverb from the UNESCO intangible world heritage Carnival in Barranquilla, 2024
“Organizing a … festival in Salzburg means reviving ancient living traditions in a new way; it means: doing things in a new way in ancient, meaningful … places […].”
Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Festspiele in Salzburg, 1921
What is a festival today? Why urbanization, ecologization, and digitalization in architecture? Where should urban transformation be activated?
Urbanthinktank_next (Uttx) celebrates creative processes in contemporary urban design by prioritizing cultural and social aspects over a narrow focus on technical solutions, energy efficiency, style, and aesthetics. The power of architecture is often overlooked when we experience both traditional high culture and emerging popular culture. Events such as the festivals in Salzburg, the carnival in the Caribbean, Burning Man, or popular street markets are as important as the rise of disruptive urban youth cultures such as Reggaeton, Skateistan, parkour, and breakdance performance spaces. It is our aim to discover and transform potential places for spectacles of all scales that can radically transform today’s urban culture, fostering participative placemaking for communal spaces of coexistence.
Students will map, imagine, and design architecture around the perspective of the exceptional and everyday culture of existing and new institutions, and propose alternative spaces for work, life, education, housing, dance, music, and digital performances in daylight and nightlife. We will discuss our proposals with local stakeholders, cultural entrepreneurs, and guests from Salzburg, Berlin, Medellín, Sarajevo, and Singapore. The final exhibition, 100 Ideas for Salzburg, will be presented in the city and, later this year, become part of the ongoing Imagine Democracy project in collaboration with the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (bmeia).
Information
- Venue
- Hohensalzburg Fortress and Studio Mobil in the city and exhibition space
- Date
- 11. – 30. 8. 25
- Teaching language
- English (German, Spanish, Polish, French, and Afrikaans possible)
- Participation fee
- 890 Euro (reduced 635 Euro)
- Requirements
- None
- What to bring
- Laptop, smartphone, and drawing materials
- Maximum number of participants
- 20
- Sponsors
- Zumtobel Lighting
Urbanthinktank_next
Urbanthinktank_next (Uttx) is a design collective based in Zurich, with offices in Sarajevo and Medellin, using a process-oriented design methodology that merges on-site analysis with a detailed exploration of urban conditions and their social, environmental, and policy implications. By promoting culture and education, their civic projects span from local interventions to global initiatives, integrating architecture, urban design, digital tools, and social activism. Co-founder Hubert Klumpner is known for his influential work on the "social turn" in architecture. The Digital Urban-Twin of Sarajevo, the Torre David project awarded with the Golden Lion of Venice, and the Metro-Cable project featured in the MoMA exhibition, "Small Scale- Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement," in New York have significantly impacted the field of architecture. Forbes Magazine wrote about Uttx, "Their work serves as an essential resource for assessing the tools – both practical and metaphorical – necessary to shift global mindsets."
Exhibitions
2023 – 2025 100 Ideas for the Western Balkans, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria, Sarajevo, Tirana, Belgrade, Pristina.
2023 Igre I grad City Games, Days of Architecture, Urban Design Studio, Sarajevo.
2023 Broken Home, Studio Mobil, AEDES Architecture Forum, Berlin.
2021 – 2023 Vienna Biennale for Change 2021 Climate Care, MAK – Museum angewandter Kunst, Vienna, UABB Biennale for Urbanism, Shenzhen, Hong Kong.
2017 – 2018 The Independent. Urban-Think Tank, MAXXI – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome.
2015 – 2016 The Architecture of Urban-Think Tank, ETHZ, Zurich, Architekturmuseum der TUM, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich (DE).
2016 Sarajevo Now, International Architecture Biennale, Venice (IT).
2010 Torre David, International Architecture Biennale, Venice.
2010 – 2011 Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement, MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (US).
Publications
Designing Urban Imaginaries, Hubert Klumpner, Diego Ceresuela-Wiesmann, Klearjos Eduardo Papanicolaou, Architangle, Berlin, 2025.
Transitioning to Sustainable Cities and Communities SDG 11, Hubert Klumpner, Klearjos Eduardo Papanicolaou, Georgeen Theodore with contributions by Michael Walczak and Diego Ceresuela-Wiesmann, MDPI Books, Basel, 2024.
Architectural Guide Sarajevo, Lift, Hubert Klumpner, Michael Walczak, DOM publishers, Berlin, 2024.
Environmental Urban Planning, Alejandro Restrepo-Montoya, Diego Ceresuela-Wiesmann, Hubert Klumpner, Paula Palacio, Ashden Climate Solutions in Action, London, 2022.
The Architect and The City: Ideology, Idealism and Pragmatism, Alfredo Brillembourg, Hubert Klumpner, Hatje Cantz, Berlin, 2022.
Reactivate Athens: 101 Ideas, Alfredo Brillembourg, Hubert Klumpner, Alexis Kalagas, Katerina Kourkoula, Ruby Press, Berlin, 2017.
Torre David: Informal Vertical Communities, Alfredo Brillembourg, Hubert Klumpner, Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich, 2012.
Website: uttnext.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/urban-think-tank/
Hubert Klumpner
Zurich, founder architect, urban designer
recognized as one of the pioneers of the "social turn in architecture", and had his international breakthrough with the exhibition 'Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement.' at MoMA / New York in 2010. Hubert Klumpner is a Professor in the Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich / ETHZ, where he also directs a research and design group on the intersection of urbanization, ecologization, and digitalization. He studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and holds a Master's in Urban Design from Columbia University in NY.
Michael Walczak
Sarajevo, partner architect, digital designer
Co-Director of the Urban Transformation Project Sarajevo (2014-2027) leading the Sarajevo office. He holds a doctoral degree, "Digital Urban Imaginaries", from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, recognized with the State Prize from the Austrian Federal Minister of Science and Education. His work bridges research and practice in actual and digital environments in AI architecture and urban design. As Co-developer of "EnerPol, Urban Digital Twin” software for large-scale urban simulations and Studio Mobil, he teaches at ETH Zurich and the University of Sarajevo.
Anne Graupner
Zurich / Johannesburg, partner architect, urban designer
Leading Africa and Academic collaboration projects. Graupner developed architecture projects for more than twenty years in South Africa, with her Studio 26'10 South Architects and Urban Designers in Johannesburg, South Africa. Anne Graupner taught at the Chair of Architecture and Urban Design at ETHZ from 2020-2024. She researched and developed the transformative Urban Design and Digital Planning Study of Kigali Rwanda, tools and methods for research like the Studio Mobil. Anne Graupner studied at the University of Applied Arts, die:angewandte with Zaha Hadid. Her expertise is in Project development at the intersection of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Knowledge Transfer.
Diego Ceresuela-Wiesmann
Medellin / Madrid, partner architect and urban designer
Co-Director of the Urban Transformation Program Colombia, UTPC (2014-2027) leading the Medellín office. He holds a Master's Degree from the Polytechnic School of Architecture in Madrid (ETSAM), where he graduated with honors. He has received awards from the Emerging New York Architects (AIA) and the Bi-annual Pasajes-Iguzzini International Prize, among others. He designs with diverse material and structural environments, from early concept through construction processes and final implementation. Currently, he is teaching at ETH Zurich and the UPB University in Medellin.
