gta 50: Conference, Debate, Roundtables, Exhibition

The ARCH+ issue In the End: Architecture not only reflects on the discourses of the last 50 years from today's perspective but also highlights, through current practices, what perspectives architecture can have as a societal practice. Just as history helps to understand the present, the present prompts us to reread and reconfigure history. Ultimately, the power of the new also lies in revealing previously hidden aspects of the past. The issue, published in cooperation with Az W (the Architecture Center Vienna), is a testament to our deep conviction that architecture is a political medium.

ARCH+ was founded in 1967 at the University of Stuttgart. The first issue appeared in 1968. During this turbulent time, ARCH+ advocated for a different understanding of architecture and urban planning. Against the backdrop of the student movement, this understanding was shaped by the attempt to place planning and societal action on a rational foundation. This attempt was driven by the search for a different society and a more socially oriented architecture. In 2017/18, ARCH+ celebrates its 50th anniversary, as does gta at ETH Zurich.

The exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary traces the institute's development through original documents. For this, the gta archive was examined, and a wealth of projects, manuscripts, lecture sketches, models, exhibition concepts, and images were found.

The history of an institution is always also the history of ideas. The gta has been and continues to be a place for reflection, exchange, and mediation. It is a space of resonance and knowledge. The exhibition demonstrates this by presenting exemplary discourses that have profoundly shaped the work at the institute and beyond.