How can architecture and design respond to war, destruction and uncertainty? How can the built environment provide protection, strengthen communities and create spaces for hope?

From 1 October to 17 November 2026, the Austrian Cultural Forum Berlin presents “Design in Wartime”, an exhibition featuring 19 projects by Ukrainian and Austrian architecture and design students from Lviv Polytechnic National University and TU Wien.

The projects address the spatial, social and cultural challenges of living through war and explore ways in which architecture and design can respond to them — from temporary shelters to the rethinking of urban infrastructure. At the heart of the exhibition are questions of protection, community, solidarity and hope, as well as new strategies for resilience and collective life in cities affected by war.

The exhibition also reflects a remarkable history of academic exchange. “Design in Wartime” was developed within the framework of 30 years of Austrian-Ukrainian university cooperation between TU Wien and Lviv Polytechnic. Continuing this partnership during the full-scale war creates an important space for exchanging knowledge, working together and reconsidering the role and responsibility of architecture and design in times of crisis.

This long-standing cooperation is supported by the OeAD Cooperation Office Lviv and Ukraine Office Austria of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Berlin exhibition is presented in cooperation with the Ukrainian Institute in Germany and is accompanied by a bilingual Ukrainian-English catalogue.

Idea, concept and curatorship: Prof. Dr. Bohdan Tscherkes & Prof. Viktor Shtets.

The gallery will be closed on 12 and 26 October.

Plakat: Yana Shtets