Unlearning Imperial Architectures From Within

In the scope of OCT.opus 2025, a project by the Vienna based performance group God’s Entertainment, a public discussion was organized, drawing on Johann Strauss’s Architecten-Ball-Tänze (1847) – his first dedication to a society ball in the imperial capital. The talk explored Vienna’s imperial architectural heritage through the lens of the waltz—linking movement, space, and history—and asked how imperial architecture can be unlearned, rethought, and reimagined today.

With Marlene Wagner (architect, researcher, and educator, co-founder of buildCollective and the Vienna Architecture Summer School), Hanna Hacker (historian and gender studies scholar), Mzamo Nondlwana (performing artist, dancer, and choreographer), God’s Entertainment, and participants of the Vienna Architecture Summer School.

Recorded on Karlsplatz, Vienna, on 04.09.2025