Design in Wartime: Exhibition at the Austrian Embassy in Stockholm
As part of the European Festival: Ukrainian Spring 2026, the exhibition Design in Wartime was presented at the Austrian Embassy in Stockholm, featuring 19 projects by Ukrainian and Austrian students in design and architecture.
The exhibition explores how design and architecture can respond to war-related challenges—destruction, uncertainty, and threat—and how they can contribute to safety, resilience, and hope. The showcased works include solutions for temporary shelters as well as ideas for rethinking urban spaces and reconstruction.
At the same time, these projects are not only responses to crisis but also attempts to imagine the future. They reflect how design processes evolve under unstable conditions and how new approaches emerge.
The exhibition is the result of over 30 years of collaboration between Lviv Polytechnic National University and TU Wien.
The opening was attended by Alina Chubko (Embassy of Ukraine) and Chiara Futter (Austrian Embassy), who highlighted the importance of international cooperation. The festival theme Contra spem spero (“Hope against hope”), inspired by Lesya Ukrainka, resonated strongly throughout the event.
Many of the projects were developed during the ongoing war—sometimes in shelters and accompanied by air raid sirens. Despite this, the students continue not only to respond to present realities but also to envision the future and contribute ideas for reconstruction.