WEtransFORM in Bonn: Exhibition outlines visions for sustainable construction
How can architecture be thought of ecologically, socially and sustainably? The WEtransFORM exhibition in Bonn brings together European projects that are working on exactly this – and turns them into a walk-in laboratory.
Concrete deserts in summer, flooded cellars in autumn – in many places, the architecture of the past seems overwhelmed by the realities of the present. While cities are groaning under heat waves, heavy rainfall and resource scarcity, the pressure to rethink the built environment is increasing. The exhibition WEtransFORM – On the Future of Building, opened by the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, formulates an urgent mandate for this: the transformation does not have to begin at some point. It has long since begun.
Exhibition as a thinking space for building culture
By January 2026, WEtransFORM will bring together around 80 European projects dedicated to the topic of sustainable construction. With a clear message: The search for answers does not require a universal formula, it requires a variety of strategies, approaches and spatial experiments. Curated by Eva Kraus and Sven Sappelt, the exhibition stages this diversity as a lively discourse – not as a dogmatic guide.
The spectrum of approaches ranges from low-tech clay architecture, as in the case of Studio Anna Heringer , to the revitalization of vacant large buildings by 51N4E or Lacaton & Vassal. New materials, urban biodiversity, circular economy and sufficiency thinking form the cornerstones of the content. And they cannot be separated from each other: they interlock like parts of an ecological system that only works if every element is taken into account.
Climate crisis as a design mandate
A separate exhibition area is dedicated to the topic of climate resilience. Instead of purely technical answers, the show presents architectural scenarios that react to increasing extreme weather events – for example with floating buildings, rainwater retention areas or green shading structures. For example, the Floating Office Rotterdam by Powerhouse Company, the Rambla Climate-House by the Spanish office Andrés Jaque / Office for Political Innovation or the Glasner Haus in the Ahr Valley by Less Yellow. These projects rely on adaptive solutions that intervene in existing urban landscapes without causing new damage.
Material issues as system questions
Another focus is on the circular economy and resource conservation. Recycled bricks, reused window frames, temporarily stored materials – WEtransFORM shows how cities become raw material warehouses. Urban mining, Cradle2Cradle principles and modular dismantling concepts provide new aesthetic categories in addition to ecological arguments.
The exhibition brings together the People’s Pavilion of Overtreders W & bureau SLA, the UMAR Experimental Unit of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Hybrid Flax Pavilion of the University of Stuttgart / Cluster of Excellence IntCDC. They are all united by the attempt to think about material origin, life cycle and later reuse from the very beginning – and to make them visible.
Education as participation
At the heart of the exhibition is an understanding of architecture as a social project. Education, participation and self-efficacy are regarded as fundamental components of sustainable spaces. Workshops, participatory city labs and an extensive educational programme are aimed at expert groups, school classes and neighbourhoods alike.
With formats such as Trash_Up, Creative Workshop Mini Bau(m)haus or City Lab – Visions of the Future, it becomes clear: Sustainable building culture begins with the question of who owns built space – and who is involved in its design.
Exhibition design as a material cycle
The architectural firm MVRDV from Rotterdam was commissioned for the spatial concept. Instead of relying on elaborate new buildings, they worked almost exclusively with existing materials from the Bundeskunsthalle. Disused modules, installed platforms, structures that have already been used – everything has been rearranged, screwed together and connected. True to the motto: Architecture performs its own principles.
In the outdoor space of the Bundeskunsthalle, this approach is expanded to include artistic and creative positions. Vert, a green wooden structure by AHEC, Diez Office and OMC°C, filters light, promotes biodiversity and at the same time serves as a place to stay. Tree.ONE, an installation made of algae biomass by ecoLogicStudio, stands in the foyer as a tree-building symbol of the future – between science fiction and feasibility.
Exhibition details
- Title: WEtransFORM – On the Future of Construction
- Location: Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, Museumsmeile, Bonn
- Duration: 6 June 2025 to 25 January 2026
- Curatorial team: Eva Kraus (artistic director), Sven Sappelt
- Advisors: Martina Fineder, Angela Kesselring, Christa Liedtke, Mathieu Wellner
- Exhibition management: Susanne Annen
- Exhibition architecture: MVRDV (Rotterdam)
- Graphic design: Apsara Flury, Neja Stojnić, Teresa Papachristou
- Partners: New European Bauhaus, transform. NRW
- Website & Info: www.bundeskunsthalle.de
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