The project explores means of mitigating chronic environmental stress within urban agglomerations. With a particular focus on intensely circulated environments that augment air pollutant concentrations and decibel levels to extents far exceeding healthy thresholds, the work investigates the non-obtrusive integration of kinetically adaptive component-based assemblies into public space, in an effort to not only mitigate the adverse physiological effects of stressors but catalyse human activity.






Diploma project by:
Sarah Agill

Modern times have evolved to prioritize certain senses at the expense of others. Once considered the transcendental linkage to the spiritual world by ancient communities, the aural universe, now a days so disregarded, is being studied by scientists worldwide in order to understand the psychological impact of certain sounds and frequencies in mental health. Blaue Donau investigates the way in which the spatial-temporal acoustic patterns given by the sounds of nature and the city, and enhanced by the built environment can impact human psyche and be utilized in mental health treatment. Through architectural articulation, it can emphasize certain acoustic frequencies, and as these replicate in space, will favour a sense of transcendence and immateriality on patients suffering from high levels of anxiety and stress, into the path of recovered metal state and well-being, within an environment of Hyper-resonance, where sound becomes material, element and force.

Work Specification: Soundscape, Biophony, Geophony, Antropophony, Soundscape Ecology, Acoustic effects, Resonance, Reverberation, Vibrotactile Immersion, Constructive Interference, Holly Frequency, Aural Taxonomy, Aural Units, Aural Park






Diploma project by:
Alejandro Estrella

Artificial Microperformative Biospheres
Second subtitle: Scientific Illustration of Adaptation of the Economical University of Vienna for the needs of Reptile Educational and Research Center with Sanctuary of Invasive Species
Constantly increasing temperatures result in climatic shifts, causing the spread of species out of their natural boundaries and becoming invasive, hibernation and reproduction cycles are affected, resulting in forced migration or starvation.
What if we built not just for us, but also for other living creatures, who are sharing the same space with us? Microperformative structures, which act like living organisms, deteriorating and growing in cycles just as nature does, might be the hope.










Diploma project by:
Miriam Löscher

The focus of this project is on mainly revitalizing the abandoned industrial zones of the 19th district of Vienna with the adjacency of the residential buildings by utilizing Artificial intelligence (AI) in the design process. My personal curiosity about the details and existing Viennese urban elements caused experiments on ornaments within different typologies and sections of history as a surgical procedure. Tracing, Sampling, and Retrieving of the existing ornaments are the underlying logic implemented as the methodology, then I utilized AI to provide hybridization and to unify them all as a cohesive object and apply them at different scales. The level of AI intervention varies; It might create a whole actual space by itself in one part or might remain as an ornamental intervention in another. The Methodology for this project would be testing the idea of AI with the programmatic problem of the site(Mistplatz) and highlighting the feature of Product Exchange. Unwrapping the facilities of Mistplatz and product exchange together in a new spatial configuration. Having 2 scenarios which would be the clients unloading the problematic waste either to get sorted and processed and get shipped as raw material by the truck and sent to recycle factories or to be stored in the exchange space and ready to get picked by another person. An orchestration of facilities and pattern slices tied to each other. The intention is to approach a programmatic problem through the lens of AI. Either it is the invasion of AI to the program or the program to the AI.
Diploma project by:
Saba Mahdavi

An Artificial Landscape Using Nuclear Waste As a Mediator

"A Neu Clear Age" is an investigation into the architectural implications that would arise from the management of nuclear waste within Vienna. The project aims to leverage the thermal properties of nuclear waste to create an artificial spring as a short-term strategy by rediverting streams from the Danube River and to contemplate the eventual radioactive decay and its potential transition into a mineral repository in the long now.

Diploma project by:
Shpend Pashtriku

The project is an exploration towards a more material-informed architecture. Driven by new developments in the field of reinforcement learning, a non-linear design methodology is developed. Constantly oscillating between human and machine intelligence, the main goal of the process is the construction with non-standardized timber parts. This approach aims to empower projects that are built on circularity and material reuse.
The developed workflows are used in the systematic reconstruction of Kiruna, Sweden — a city facing collapse due to mining activities. The project envisions Kiruna as a precedent for community relocation and explores the potential of machine learning for physical reconfiguration and archiving. Protocols are developed at multiple scales to ultimately manifest the traces of materials and address sustainability, destruction, and cultural preservation in times of increasingly violent environmental change.










Diploma project by:
Raffael Stegfellner

As a country based on port economic development, 90% of Singapore's food is imported. This model will become increasingly unstable due to climate change and uncertain future patterns. A localized food and protein industry is vital to the city. In addition to food problems, urban heat islands and rising sea levels are also threatening the city's living environment.
This project is an adaptive food production system based on long-term sea level. The strategy is to cut and reconfigure the existing concrete site to collect sediment and eventually rewild it into a constructed wetland. The production tower that pops up on the beach is a celebration of advanced technological production and artificial food in the laboratory. This proposal is not only to create an urban food production infrastructure for Singapore, but also to integrate the waterfront area into civic space.











project by:
Qian Yu