Old WUiener - Filmscreening

At the center of the event series "Old WUiener" is the question: What does the demolition of a building actually mean, and how much sense does it actually make? Demolition affects all of us - especially when entire city districts and places that shape identity disappear, causing irreversible ecological damage. Hardly any other place in Vienna shows our absurd approach to existing buildings as clearly as the Old WU (the old economics university building). The Old WU is threatened with demolition - the competition is currently underway and will run until summer 2027. Together with architects4future, Kollektiv Raumstation, studio kollision and the Allianz alte WU we are giving the Old WU, the old Wiener, one more day of attention. True to the saying "Everything has an end, only the sausage has two," we want to join forces and explore alternatives to demolition. Three events taking place directly at the Alte WU on September 6, 2026, will show that demolition is far from WU-rscht (far from irrelevant). Our events: Demolition walk: The great Vanishing Act/ Performance "Too Hot to Handle – Bäume statt Beton"/ Open air film screening

Open air film screening – Start: 19:30h

A free open air movie night directly on site shows that the "old WUiener" does matter and can still remain part of the urban fabric. It doesn't have too little space for a new spatial program — the spatial program has too much space for the old WU.

Two films will be shown: Barbara Buser – Pionierin der Nachhaltigkeit by Gabriele Schärer and All Buildings Are Beautiful by Christoph Schwarz.
Both films perfectly show where the beauty in existing buildings lies and how one can not only preserve it but also build upon it. By screening the films directly at the old WU, the significance of their content becomes more tangible, and the information from the movies is thereby linked more directly to the place and its history.

All Buildings Are Beautiful von Christoph Schwarz (20min) – German with English subtitles
The demolition of the Alte Wirtschaftsuni at the Althangrund in Vienna could become the largest demolition-rebuild of the decade in Vienna. An aging university complex is set to make way for a new, sustainable education campus. This careless approach to building substance and the embodied energy contained within it stands paradigmatically for an era in which, despite an accelerating climate crisis, we continue to cling to concepts from the past. To shoot "All Buildings Are Beautiful," Christoph Schwarz spent the building's last year of accessibility living there as an interim user.

Barbara Buser – Pionierin der Nachhaltigkeit von Gabriele Schärer (118min) – German
The award-winning Basel-based architect Barbara Buser saves buildings from demolition and rebuilds them using reclaimed materials. She transforms former industrial sites into urban living spaces that stand for a careful approach to our environment and to community. As a woman who successfully forges her own path in a male-dominated field, Barbara Buser is a role model for the younger generation fighting for a more sustainable, more just world.