The semester will be taught in English and will include an excursion to Catania, Italy.
Mountains have long been considered sacred in both Western and non-Western traditions. Their impressive height, visual presence, and material stability alter our consciousness, leading us to associate them with permanence, power, and divinity. In many cultures, mountains are seen as the Axis Mundi of the universe: the center of the world, a place linking heaven and earth, around which the sun and stars revolve, ensuring the stability of the cosmos.
The “Cosmic Mountain” is then a place that provides order and stability to the world and the people that live in it, acting upon it with both natural and supernatural forces. Studying mountains can reveal the histories of mythologies, forms of inhabitation, and architectural experimentation. This design studio will focus on this theme, asking how mountains can shape our understanding of complex spatial systems and our relationship with both built and unbuilt landscapes.
To explore this up close, we will undertake a field trip to Mount Etna in Sicily. An active volcano, Etna has shaped not only the geology of eastern Sicily, but the architectural fabric of the towns built around its slopes. Its recurring eruptions have buried entire settlements, while the earthquake of 1693 levelled the city of Catania and prompted its reconstruction in a baroque style built largely from the volcano’s dark lava stone. The material bond between mountain and city makes the volcano visible in the city’s architecture; its myths, stories, and threats of eruptions ensure its presence in the psyche of those living on its periphery.
We will trace this relationship during our field trip using architectural filmmaking. During our five days in Catania, we will explore the mountain from far and near: an organised tour to the mountain, an excursion on the Circumetnea train (the narrow railway that circles Etna’s base), and trips within Catania and the lava-stone towns scattered across its foothills. Filming will take place during the day, and every evening we will meet for guidance with architectural filmmaker Nikola Miloradovic, who will provide assignments and feedback for the next day’s shooting.
Upon returning to Vienna, we will process this collected fieldwork into a complete film. Students will work on post-production on two levels: the narrative level, developing the content of their film, supported by architectural theory and the production of drawings, photographs, and texts, and the technical level, encompassing editing, color grading, and sound mixing of the film.
Film list:
Lessons of Darkness – Werner Herzog (1992)
Sans Soleil – Chris Marker (1983)
Man with a Movie Camera – Dziga Vertov (1929)
Homo Urbanus – Bêka & Lemoine (2017-2022)
Architecton – Viktor Kossakovsky (2024)
Palermo Shooting, Wim Wenders (2008)
Gibellina – La città moderne, Nina Maria Küchler (2022)
Methods:
The studio methods include direct fieldwork with photography, drawing and filmmaking. A week-long excursion to Catania forms the core of the research phase, during which students will work independently across the city and its surroundings. After returning to Vienna, students will move from fieldwork into post-production and design development, translating the material gathered in the field trip into architectural projects. Throughout both phases, the studio will be joined by invited critics and practitioners—photographers, filmmakers, and experts with deep knowledge and experience of Catania and Mount Etna—who will contribute to reviews, workshops, and ongoing project discussions.
Lecturers:
Wilfried Kuehn
Gili Merin
Nikola Miloradovic
Tutor:
Alexander Feigl
Further information:
Kick-off: Thu, 1st of October 2026, 10.00 – 13.00, Seminarraum AC 02.
Meetings will take place every Thursday.
This design studio will be held in English and will include an excursion to Catania.
Excursion: 9.11.2026 – 13.11.2026
Every day will include tours with local experts and independent fieldwork between 8:30-16:30, followed by a meeting with the lecturers from 18:00-20:00 to review the day’s work.