Power

How do energy and politics shape our built environment? The exhibition POWER demonstrates how infrastructure—from pipelines to wind turbines—becomes a site of political and social debate. It tells the story of the European Coal and Steel Union, through post-war visions of the nuclear future, to today's energy transition—and asks what role architecture and design can play in this context.

The exhibition "POWER" connects the fields of energy and politics. It offers a glimpse into the interplay of geopolitics, political institutions, and movements with the planning work of architecture, engineering, and landscape design in the creation of infrastructure. From oil and gas pipelines to microchips, from wind turbines to recycling centers—infrastructures shape life in diverse ways. They are often the subject of intense debates and presuppose an understanding of POWER in the double sense of the word: energy and power. The CIVA exhibition explores the beginnings of the European project, the optimism of the early nuclear era, the pioneers of the ecological transition, the energy transformation toward renewable energies, and circularity as reflected in built infrastructure. The Brussels exhibition is complemented by a local section on voestalpine in Linz: its origins during the Nazi era, its post-war transformation into a conglomerate with vibrant planning and construction activities – including outside the company premises – and its special connection to the development of the city.

A production of the CIVA Architecture Museum, Brussels

Speaker: Nikolaus Hirsch (Artistic director of the CIVA)

Opening: 18.9.2025, 7 p.m.