Opening: February 25, 2026, 7 p.m. at HDA, Mariahilferstraße 2, 8020 Graz Exhibition: February 26 – May 15, 2026, Tu–Su 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Guided exhibition tours: Saturdays 3 p.m., Sundays 11 a.m. and on request
The Prize Bag: Double Lives of Architecture exhibition was developed within the framework of the Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria. Curated by Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş of the Istanbul-based studio SO? architecture and ideas, the exhibition and accompanying publication propose shifting our understanding of architectural prizes—seeing them as instruments for inquiry rather than final judgments. Moving beyond the award submissions, the exhibition asks what lies behind images of buildings where stories of life steadily accumulate. What happens between concept and completion, between drawing and everyday use? What remains invisible, yet decisive for lived reality?
Drawing on the architects’ previous curatorial work, Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture, buildings are understood as containers of stories—of collaboration, unpredictability, and transformation. Through visits to 14 shortlisted projects across Styria, in-depth conversation with international architectural theorist Hilde Heynen, and extensive material shared by the architectural offices who were shortlisted, Double Lives of Architecture reveals the messy, unpredictable, and deeply human processes behind built form. By assembling photographs, drawings, collages, construction documents, notes, and crisis moments, the exhibition traces the “double lives” of architecture: the tension between image and use, between idealized narratives and the realities of construction and adaptation over time. Rather than celebrating architecture as a finished object, The Prize Bag keeps the discussion open—inviting visitors to look closer and reconsider architecture’s multifaceted nature.
If a building is understood as a container—a carrier bag that holds layers of transformation, unpredictability, and messiness, as proposed in the Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture—then an architectural prize can become more than a mechanism of selection. It can become a tool for deep exploration, shifting attention away from the circulation of images toward the essence of architecture itself.
The Prize Bag: Double Lives of Architecture emerged from this premise within the context of the Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria. Instead of treating the prize as a final destination or a label for the “best” project, the curators approached it as a catalyst—one that generates questions from the collective body of 14 shortlisted works. What can be learned when these projects are read together? What stories unfold beyond the polished photographs submitted for the architectural prize?
To move beyond representation, the curators initiated a three-day journey across Styria, visiting the shortlisted projects together with architects, clients, users, and institutions. At the same time, they invited the offices to share additional material: construction photographs, rejected details, technical drawings, notes, crisis documentation, budget information, and reflections rarely made public. The process, which involved several in-depth conversations, including with the international architectural theorist Hilde Heynen, provided the backbone for the exhibition.
The “double lives” of architecture unfold between image and use, intention and reality, concept and crisis. Buildings appear not as static outcomes, but as evolving entities—beginning on paper, shaped through negotiation on-site, and continuously redefined through daily life. From single-family homes and kindergartens to hospitals, care facilities, schools, and public infrastructure, the exhibition traces how architecture operates across scales, ages, and social conditions.
Recurring themes surface throughout the exhibition: care and comfort, education and learning environments, the role of public space, cycles of material and nature, the challenges of building within existing structures, and the invisible labor behind “simple” architectural gestures.
Rather than offering conclusions, The Prize Bag: Double Lives of Architecture assembles stories that build upon one another. In doing so, it keeps architecture open: as a shared cultural practice embedded in everyday life, steadily shaped by those who inhabit it.
Projects in the exhibition
Prize winner: Salon Stolz | Architektursalon and su.n -spaceunit network
Special Recognition: City Hall Kapfenberg | .tmp architekten
Special Recognition:LFS Grottenhof Modernisation | ARGE LFS GRO: Caspar Wichert Architektur + OSNAP Open South North Architecture Practice
Special Recognition:School Campus Reininghaus | j-c-k Architekten
Special Recognition:treehouse | konstruktiv – Studio für Architektur
House of Biodiversity at Herberstein Wildlife Park | Pretterhofer Arquitectos / MVD Austria
HDA, in cooperation with the Province of Styria and the Regional Chamber of Chartered Engineering Consultants, is pleased to invite you to the exhibition opening of the Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria 2025. The curators, Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş (SO? architecture and ideas, Istanbul), and HDA programme coordinator Zerina Džubur will discuss the exhibition’s design and its core themes.
The Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria 2025 was awarded to Architektursalon and su.n – spaceunit.net for the Salon Stolz. The curatorship was commissioned by the Styrian Provincial Government to the architectural office SO? architecture and ideas.
The new HDA format world_wide_wisdom invites international architects and thinkers to give keynote speeches and talks to accompany the exhibitions. As part of the exhibition BHP'24 on the road, the Istanbul-based architecture firm SO? architecture and ideas, curators of the Architecture Prize of the Province of Styria 2025, will provide insights into their positions and working methods.
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