An urban architecture of knowledge was constructed in which almost everyone could (or had to) learn. The knowledge of this urban community was to grow out of the skilled trades, technology, work and society itself – to inject a shot of concrete reality and public spirit into scientific theory and political action. What if Vienna became again, for one evening, a grand hallucinatory community college based on solidarity and open to everybody?
To mark the centenary of Red Vienna, the Mobile Academy Berlin stages a trans-temporal urban landscape with narratives from 120 experts. The social utopias and architectural manifestos of 1920s Red Vienna encounter the urban present and future visions for a new city. Historians and contemporary witnesses speak on behalf of the past; today’s residents in Vienna’s municipal housing and those working in Red Vienna’s architectures provide a critical view on the present; the city of the future is brought to life by science fiction authors, activists, technologists and other urban pioneers. Vienna’s history, present and future – retold and reinvented in 252 dialogues.