5 - 7 June 2025
A two-day festival on sustainable architecture and urban development will take place at the Bundeskunsthalle to coincide with the opening of the WEtransFORM exhibition. Professionals, Experts and everyone who is interested in the future of our cities are cordially invited to come to Bonn to discuss the current challenges of effectively transforming our built environment.
The festival is being held in cooperation with the European Commission’s New European Bauhaus in Brussels. Guests include excellent climate researchers such as Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, visionary mayors of leading citys and, last but not least, numerous creative designers from renowned offices from Madrid to Helsinki.
Participation is free of charge, registration is requested. The event will be held in German and English.
Register by e-mail at buchung [at] bundeskunsthalle.de. Please let us know whether you will be attending both or just one of the two days.
Thursday, 5 June 2025
7 pm
Opening of the exhibition
WEtransFORM. On the Future of Building
Speakers:
Eva Kraus, Art Director of the Bundeskunsthalle
Sven Sappelt, Curator
Christa Liedtke, Wuppertal Institute / University of Wuppertal
Martina Fineder, University of Wuppertal
Jacob van Rijs, MVRDV
DJ: Benjamin Röder, Munich
Friday, 6 June 2025
From 10 am // Foyer
Meet & Greet, Beverages served
11–11:15 am // Forum
Welcome & Introduction
Eva Kraus, Director of Bundeskunsthalle
Schedule
Sven Sappelt, Curator
11:15–11:30 am // Forum
Beautiful, sustainable, together: New European Bauhaus
Ruth Reichstein, EU Commission
11:30 am–12 pm // Forum
Keynote: Saving the World in Style
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
12–1 pm // Forum
Keynote: Climate Change and Architecture
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
Ruth Reichstein
Annette Hillebrandt, Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Eva Kraus
Host: Sven Sappelt
1–1:15 pm // Museum plaza
Vert by AHEC / Diez Office / OMC°C
Presented by Georg Maurer (for AHEC) and Nicola Stattmann (OMC°C)
1:15–2 pm // Lounge
Break
2–2:15 pm // Foyer
Presentation
Tree.ONE by ecoLogicStudio (Claudia Pasquero)
2:30–2:45 PM // Forum
Anton Kolomieitsev, Chief Architect of Lviv, Ukraine
2:45–4:15 pm // Forum
Mayors‘ Roundtable: Driving Change in European Cities
Katja Dörner, Bonn
Jürgen Odszuck, Heidelberg
Uwe Schneidewind, Wuppertal
Hosts: Angela Kesselring, Communication Strategist & Sven Sappelt, Bundeskunsthalle
4:15–4:45 pm // Lounge
Break
4:45–5:45 pm // Forum
Future Stories: How Journalism Can Communicate the Transformation of Cities
Alexandra Borchardt, Journalist and Honorary Professor for Leadership und Digitalization, TU Munich
Bettina Köhl, Deputy Head of Local News Bonn, Bonner General-Anzeiger
Selina Wach, Architektur aktuell, Vienna
Host: Angela Kesselring
5:45–6 pm // Forum
Wrap-up and preview for Saturday
Sven Sappelt
7 p.m. // Regional Representation of the European Commission, Bundeskanzlerplatz 2d, 53113 Bonn
European Commission Reception
8 p.m. // Regional Representation of the European Commission, Bundeskanzlerplatz 2d, 53113 Bonn
Discussion
Stress Test: About the German Pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
with Elisabeth Endres, Curator of the German Pavilion
Saturday, 7 June 2025
From 10 am // Stairway 2nd floor, Lounge
Meet & Greet, Beverages served
10:45–11:15 am // Forum
Talk: Prototyping for sustainable City development
City of Gothenburg (Cecilia Helsing, Malin Finlöf) & raumlaborberlin (Jan Liesegang)
Powerhouse Company, Rotterdam (Albert Takashi Richters)
11:15 am–12:45 pm // Forum
NEB Roundtable: Architects and Urban Planners for a Sustainable Europe
Ruth Schagemann (Germany)
Svetlana Kirova (Bulgaria)
Martin Skea (Belgium)
Andreea Nacu (Belgium)
Host: Mathieu Wellner, Architect and Mediator
12:45–1:30 pm // Lounge
Break
1:30–3 pm
Concurrent workshop sessions
- Workshop Session 1 // Konferenzraum
Material Flows & Theory of Change
Christa Liedtke & Martina Fineder - Workshop Session 2 // Lounge
Designing for Circular Construction
Georg Bäuml, Circular Valley Foundation
3–3:30 pm // Lounge
Final round and workshop results
Host: Sven Sappelt
3:30–3:45 pm // Lounge
Closing remarks
Eva Kraus & Sven Sappelt
4 pm // Rooftop
Reception