Architekturwoche Basel 2024

The second edition of Architekturwoche Basel in September 2024, entitled ‘Hidden Spaces: Opportunities for the Future’, is dedicated to the transformation and activation of hidden spaces – because the invisible is not taken care of in the same way as the visible. The invisible includes various networks and infrastructures such as watercourses and reservoirs, the production of food and energy, our waste, our data, administrative and social boundaries and, last but not least, our history. These are all important parameters that determine our present and future presence in the city and the countryside–because hidden spaces offer opportunities and chances for the future.

AWB’24 offers seven days of exhibitions and guided tours, discussions and film programme, presentations and an pop up shop for news architecture books. The aim is to understand the invisible forces in our built environment and use them as tools for rethinking architecture.

Changing and repurposing existing buildings and structures takes time. It requires a new way of thinking and a new view of what is valuable. In Switzerland, it still seems easier and cheaper to demolish a building than to work with the existing structure. Sustainable design choices are the key to reducing the serious environmental impact of construction, so a change in attitude is needed when dealing with existing buildings.

The AWB’24 aims to achieve a social and cultural impact. It advocates a new restraint in building and ecological solutions to overcome the current inflexibility of architecture.