In what is also known as ‘the Inflatable Era’, inflatable architecture was manufactured as a prerequisite for a new, nomadic way of life. Space travel served as the inspiration for these capsules. However, are these high-tech hide-outs post-human or not?

“A little world in which the big one holds its tryouts”, is how guest curator and professor Bart Lootsma describes the development of Austrian avant-garde movements in the 20th century. In this lecture series, Lootsma places the so-called ‘Radical Austria’ of the 1960s in the context of the long Austrian tradition of art and design.

The need for radical change manifested itself in post-war Austria in a series of mega­lo­manic urban designs. These projects share an ob­ses­sion with technology and infrastructure and a drive to create completely new ways of living together.

Visiting the exhibition, you will receive the accom­pan­ying ca­ta­log. It documents both the technical information of all ex­hi­bi­ted works, as well as substantive texts to con­tex­tu­a­lize im­por­tant makers and themes. You can find the digital version here.

Curator and architectural historian Bart Lootsma shows you around the ex­hi­bition. He reflects on several key works by important Austrian designers active in the 60s and 70s.

Parallel to the exhibition, architectural­theory.eu presents a selection of films on and by the protagonists of the exhibition, made for and broadcasted by the ORF. The films are as radical as the people, ideas and work in the ex­hi­bi­tion. They provide a unique snapshot of Austrian culture in the 60s and 70s.

Can’t get enough of the wild 60s in Austria? Then listen to the podcast tips that we have put together for you here. From the actions of feminist icon Valie Export to Gernreich’s moni­kini, and from Wolf D. Prix’s revolutionary ideals to Wilhelm Reich’s unusual ideas about sexual liberation.

The oil crisis and environmental issues have led to an international reconsideration of the technological fascinations of the avant-gardes of the 1960s. Haus-Rucker-Co, in particular, reflects in very large installations on the con­se­quences of environmental pollution.

A series of experiments by Coop Himmelb(l)au investigates how human test sub­jects respond to intensive media experiences and how these reactions can be fed back to those media.

Haus-Rucker-Co works on the Mind Expanding Program from 1967 to 1971. The program aims to expand human consciousness and man-made environments on different levels.

Walter Pichler’s prototypes of furniture and appliances are perfectly executed and func­tio­nal. By emphasizing certain effects of the use of everyday objects, these prototypes show their cold and disorientating impact.

In the 1960s and 1970s, new media such as radio, telephone and TV changed the relationship between people and the environment. The impact on the human experience of the environment makes perception an important theme for many artists and designers during this period.

That cybernetics would radically influence the functioning of design, architecture and urban planning was understood in Austria at an early stage. Its consequences are speculated on in numerous projects.

In the 1960s, the body became the starting point for a radical rethinking of architecture, design, fashion and art. The boundaries between those disciplines increasingly disappeared.

Schöner Wohnen, or ‘the destruction of the habitable coffin’ is a film made by the architecture collective Salz der Erde in 1971, in which the ideal of the tasteful-bourgeois housing magazine of the same name is mercilessly undermined.

With his manifesto Alles ist Architektur Hans Hollein does away with the traditional de­fi­ni­tion of architecture: “Our efforts are focused on the environment as a whole and on all media that determine it. Both television, the artificial climate, transport, clothing, the telephone and the home.”

The performances of the Actionists in­crea­singly sparked scandals attracting at­ten­tion of both police and media. This culminated in 1968 in the happening Kunst und Revolution, ar­rang­ed by the artist Peter Weibel as part of student protests and taking place in a prominent lecture hall of Vienna University.

The designers and artists in the Austrian avant-garde were obsessed with theories of social change. Despite their manifestos often being very radical, they realised an impressive number of their projects.

Actionism is the unique Austrian brand of performance art. By means of choreographies with naked bodies, paint and blood, combined with loud music, they intoxicate the participants and the audience.

Posthuman; once your eyes are opened to it you see it everywhere. But what is it? In this recurring series, curator Fredric Baas explains. In the first column, Baas focuses on the chang­ing human body, something Austrian designers were already investigating in the 1960s.

From psychedelic inflatable buildings to shock­ing per­for­man­ces, from cultic cities to cy­ber­ne­tic fashion. Bart Lootsma and Jeroen Jun­te will guide you through the exhibition and talk to experts from this period in de­sign his­tory.

In this series of videos, contemporary designers respond to quotes from Victor Papanek to find out if his ideas are still relevant. Klaas and Maybe of the Academie voor Beeldvorming use art to tackle social issues and to change the image around them.

In this series of videos, contemporary designers respond to quotes from Victor Papanek to find out if his ideas are still relevant. Petra and Simone from Social Label develop design together with top designers and people with a distance to the labor market.

In this series of videos, contemporary designers respond to quotes from Victor Papanek to find out whether his ideas are still relevant. Tessa and Rolf from Minitopia create innovative, sustainable residential locations, in which there is plenty of room for solidarity and togetherness.

The last part of the exhibition “Victor Papanek: The Politics of Design” shows how contemporary designers relate to the themes of Papanek. Here you will find the exhibition text.

In the second part of the exhibition “Victor Papanek: The Politics of Design” you get to know Papanek better. Here you will find the exhibition text.

Papanek inspired many generations of designers. The third part of the exhibition “Victor Papanek: The Politics of Design” shows their work on the theme of ‘minorities’. Here you will find the exhibition text.

The first part of the exhibition ‘Victor Papanek: The Politics of Design’ shows the influences and creative interactions in the life and work of Papanek. Here you will find the exhibition text.

The exhibition ‘Victor Papanek: The Politics of Design’ starts with a short introduction about Victor Papanek and his ideas. Here you will find the exhibition text.

Alison J. Clark, the exhibition’s co-curator, shows a beautiful silk scarf printed with a motif intended to confuse facial recognition software. It’s the designer’s way of criticizing how governments and corporations are using this technology.

Papanek called on designers to design for disabled people and to involve them in the design process. He also argued that designers need to be aware of the cultural context of their work. Annemiek van Boeijen designed a sports wheelchair and works in the field of ‘Culture Sensitive Design’ .

Most people don’t have to think twice about using a public toilet. But for transgender people it’s a different story. Discover the history behind the design of public restrooms and find out how the future of the inclusive toilet might look.

Alison J. Clark, the exhibition’s co-curator, reflects on a seemingly unassuming toy, the ‘Fingermajig’. She shows how inclusive design can lead the way to a more democratic and equal society.

Alison J. Clark, the exhibition’s co-curator, presents the ‘Big Character’ poster, which shows at a glance what Papanek’s social and design criticism was all about.

Design for the Real World states that few professions are more harmful than that of industrial designer. This podcast makes the point painfully clear. Virtually everything around us has been designed with a man in mind. With fatal consequences for women.

This five-minute podcast offers a neat survey of Victor Papanek’s work. Alison J. Clarke, the exhibition’s co-curator, discusses Papanek’s life, his critique of American consumer culture and his social influence.

The ‘Facial Weaponization Suite’ by the Ame­ri­can activist and artist Zach Blas is a protest against biometric facial recognition in security cameras. He circumvents this tech­no­logy, while at the same time exposing the in­equa­li­ties perpetuated by surveillance of this kind.

Could a machine ever satisfy our need for a hug? The designer Bart Hess talks in this video about Lucy McRae’s work Future Day Spa.

Research assistant Moyra Besjes talks here about The Fabricant – a digital couturier whose collections have never seen a needle, thread or fabric. The materials used to make these designs are algorithms.

Sales of sex toys rose 94% during the Covid crisis and the development of Virtual Reality porn has also shifted up a gear. What role might virtual and digital sex play in a physical world?

Podcast on the steadily shrinking divide between human and machine. What is the potential for a deep, intense relationship with artificial lovers?

Interviews with cyborgs, cyberbullies, neuroscientists and a police chief, who reflect on whether computers are changing us as human beings.

Why are people so obsessed with the idea of immortality? Meet the transhumanists who are convinced that a cure for ageing is within reach and that within a few decades, we’ll no longer face death

Paul suffers from anxiety attacks. But rather than going to a psychologist, he decided to write a computer program to solve his problem.

How a simple chat robot from the 1960s turned out to meet a deep-seated human need.

From Invisibilia – our favourite podcast. What happens when you give artificial intelligence your unconditional love?

The works in the part ‘Beyond The Body’ of the exhibition BodyDrift have left the human body behind. They show how manipulable we have become both physically and mentally, and ask us to consider how much ‘self’ we still retain.

The body is becoming increasingly analysed and digitized, with and without our knowledge, steadily blurring the boundary between the private and public sphere. Explore ‘The Biometric Body’ in the exhibition BodyDrift – Anatomies of the Future.

The exhibition BodyDrift – Anatomies of the Future includes two death masks by Neri Oxman. Part of her Vespers series, they refer to a centuries-old tradition of death masks, but are 3D-printed and based on specially developed algorithms inspired by structures from nature.

These seven novels, which touch on the themes raised by the exhibition BodyDrift – Anatomies of the Future, were chosen as favourites by our museum staff.

Fredric Baas, curator of BodyDrift – Anatomies of the Future, spent two years researching the ‘posthuman’ theme. He shares the fruits of that research in this series of articles.

The works shown in the part ‘Better Bodies’ of the exhibition share a fundamental belief in the human body. The body is extended, embellished, defended or armed, ready to face the future.

What can a small error in a computer program from 1843 tell us about the contemporary prejudices that can creep into software algorithms? With a starring role for Ada Lovelace, the woman who designed the first computer program.