We broadcast a recording of the interview with the architect Carles Enrich. The conversation took place in the frame of the course Emerging Fields in Architecture, TU Vienna (WS 2023/24). Students were investigating the ‘essentials’ in relation to current and future issues relating to our environment, sustainability and humanity. For this series, they asked researchers, creative people and experts from different disciplines and research fields about the following questions: What kind of future do we want to create? Which role(s) does architecture have in which context? What can / must architecture offer? What visions are there and where do they lead? And what can / must be learned from the past for future projects?

 Carles Enrich Studio describes itself as an office that focuses on thinking beyond barriers and carefully examining existing conditions. The studio understands how to deal with existing buildings and cultural assets. They see the protection of buildings in the use of buildings. Regulations and laws should be regularly adapted to the circumstances of the time and thus benefit the use of what already exists. This allows a closer connection between people and their environment, in order to create a bigger impact. In this broadcast, you will hear the possibilities and challenges Carles and his studio have to face presently, while being aware of the possibility that the future of current architecture students might not take place in the building sector anymore. We ask questions about the traces of what exists and what is to be expected of an architect. Both in dealing with materials as well as with the cultural responsibility that one bears when reviving existing buildings.

In the end, we all play a role in the future society, because we define culture. But mostly through ones interventions and the courage to realize new thinking, that impact gets visible.

Lea Kuhlmann and Phillip Roßbach conducted the interview and produced this broadcast as part of the course Emerging Fields in Architecture at the TU Wien.

Links: https://carlesenrich.com/

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Architects play a crucial role in shaping our future. Through their concepts and designs, they initiate spatial, social, and technological innovations that can have far-reaching impacts on our coexistence. How we will live in the future is a complex question that engages researchers, creatives, and experts from various disciplines. As part of the «Emerging Fields in Architecture» module at TU Wien, Hochbau 2, numerous experts were interviewed on this topic during the winter semester of 2023/2024. Concrete as well as far-reaching proposals were discussed, and multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary strategies were developed to address current and future design challenges in the context of social change. Architecture has a crucial role to play in addressing global challenges such as climate change and demographic change. Therefore, it is essential that architects have a broad understanding of sustainability, technology, and social issues and incorporate them into their designs. By pursuing an interdisciplinary approach, architects can contribute to shaping a sustainable and future-proof world in which we can all live.

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