Together with Oliver Elser, curator of the exhibition, as well as Ulrike Haele and Thomas Amann, we will discuss construction, play, and participation. This is not only about how construction kits are designed, but also how architecture can be taught and conveyed to make space for different abilities and perspectives.

How can play open up new possibilities of comprehending and designing together? Who is allowed to join the game—and who dares to construct? What do we have to unlearn to allow for alternative design competencies?

Thomas Amann is an architect and senior artist at the Research Department of Building Theory by Design at the TU Wien. He focuses on playful methods in cooperative planning processes and, within the context of the Biofabrique Vienna, develops experimental approaches for circular construction, new materials, and collaborative research.

Oliver Elser is an architecture curator at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt am Main and guest curator of the exhibition Architectural Construction Kits 1890–1990: Plenty to Play With! at the MAK.

Ulrike Haele is an assistant professor of Design, Craft & Material Culture at the New Design University. She explores the role of design in social change. Her expertise includes gender-sensitive design as well as the conscious unlearning of social codes and gender attributions.