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Architecture Symposium 2026: Constructing Radical Ecologies

This year’s symposium will address the role, influence and possibilities of architecture in creating climate-resilient ecosystems, from both a historical and a contemporary perspective.

19.06.2026, 9am–5.30pm – Farelhaus | Biel, Oberer Quai 12

“Ecosystems have become playthings of profit. With our bottomless appetite for unchecked (...) economic growth, humanity has become a weapon of mass extinction. We are treating nature as a toilet. And ultimately, we are committing suicide by proxy.”

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General

Constructing Radical Ecologies

The doctrine of infinite economic growth has proven itself a fatal error. In light of the scenario outlined by Antonio Guterres at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal in 2022, a radical rethink and reorientation of global trade and production is urgently needed.

This idea also applies to architecture and is at the core of this year’s symposium, which will examine the role that architecture has played in creating climate-resilient ecosystems where flora, fauna and people, along with their artefacts, coexist, and its potential role in creating living conditions that benefit all.

The symposium will focus on alternative models to rethink the relationship between humans and nature, and on practical examples showing possible constructive and aesthetic perspectives for building methods that do not damage, but rather promote or even create resilient ecosystems.

Programme

8:30am Arrival of participants
9am Musical prelude im & Puma Mimi
Welcome address by lenda Gonzalez Bassi, Mayor of Biel/Bienne, and Tobias Baitsch, BFH
Introduction speech by Tim Kammasch and Matthew Phillips
Bloc 1: Histories and Politics of Constructed Ecologies
9.30am Samia Henni, «Colonial Toxicity»
10am Milo Probst, «Against the mistreatment of nature: the anarchist critique of private property in the 1870s»
10.30am Discussion moderated by Blanca Gardelegui and Tim Kammasch 
11am Break and musical interlude
Bloc 2: (Re) Constructed Ecologies. Time and Matter
11.15am Aisling O’Carroll, «Reconstructing Architecture: a Geohistorical Design Analysis» 
11.45am Steven Schenk, «Dead Bull»
12.15pm Discussion moderated by Nelly Pilz and Matthew Phillips
12.45pm Lunch at the Farelhaus and musical interlude
Bloc 3: Radical Ecologies. Living Systems and Material Cycles
1:30pm Susanne Schmitt, «Listening across species. An urban salon of references and frequencies»
2pm Jonas Kissling & Denizay Apusoglu, «Afterlives of Extraction, Aesthetics of the By-Product»
2.30pm Discussion moderated by Blanca Gardelegui and Tim Kammasch
3pm Break and musical interlude
Bloc 4: Sampling as a Method. Re-use as a principal of creativity
3:15pm Akos Moravanszky, «REMIX»
3:45pm Pablo Garrido Arnaiz, «Everyday Readymades»
4.15pm

Discussion moderated by Nelly Pilz and Matthew Phillips
4.45pm Conclusion
  Apero and musical interlude

Language

The event will be held in English and German and translated into French.

Registration deadline

Friday, 12 June 2026

Constructing Radical Ecologies
Recycled tin plates as part of the tin joint process. Dripped Dreams. Studio Eidola, 2024.

Speakers and contributors

  • Prof. Dr Samia Henni, architectural historian, McGill University, Montreal

  • Milo Probst, historian, University of Fribourg

  • Aisling O’Carroll, assistant professor and landscape architect, ETH Zurich

  • Steven Schenk, architect, Bern University of Applied Sciences

  • Susanne Schmitt, sociocultural anthropologist, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich

  • Jonas Kissling, architect, and Denizay Apusoglu, industrial designer, Studio Eidola, Zurich

  • Prof. Dr em. Ákos Moravánszky, ETH Zurich, Theory of Architecture

  • Pablo Garrido Arnaiz, architect, Parabase, Basel and Barcelona

  • Tim & Puma Mimi, musical interludes

Moderators

  • Blanca Gardelegui, guest lecturer, BFH
  • Prof. Dr Tim Kammasch, professor, BFH
  • Matthew Phillips, co-head Bachelor in Architecture BFH
  • Nelly Pilz, co-head Bachelor in Architecture BFH

Venue

Farelhaus

Oberer Quai 12
CH-2502 Biel

Farelhaus

Oberer Quai 12
CH-2502 Biel

Find out more

School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering

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Factsheet

  • Start date 19.06.2026, 9am–5.30pm
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  • Place Farelhaus | Biel, Oberer Quai 12
  • Application deadline 12.06.2026
  • Costs The registration fee is CHF 50.00 and can be paid on-site in cash or via Twint.

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