The exhibition “Questions to Society” presents models of competition entries that did not win, submitted as part of the Weißenhof Architecture Promotion Prize in Stuttgart, at the Weißenhof Gallery.

In addition to models and excerpts from television reports, a newspaper in various languages about projects by Opposite Office is on display.

Excerpt from the jury’s statement:
“The jury was quite astonished when, during an intensive reading of the two pages of Opposite News dated 6 October 2025 from the Munich architecture firm Opposite Office, they found themselves personally mentioned and quoted in the bottom right corner. And with the result of the Weißenhof Architecture Promotion Prize [Seven] for architects being that the prize goes to the author himself, Benedikt Hartl. Of course, Hartl could not have known that the jury would decide this way, and he must also have been aware of the narrow path between a sympathetic gamble and an impudent anticipation of a jury decision. He took a risk and thereby did something that architects today can hardly afford if they want to survive in the market.

Looking further, Hartl knows how to sell himself well: this is evidenced by newspaper reports from all over the world (in original languages such as Chinese, Saudi Arabic, Polish) about provocative projects, always with a political or social statement. Examples include the conversion of Buckingham Palace into social housing or the reuse of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines as a capsule hotel with 194 sleeping pods, workshops, a language school, galleries, and a cultural meeting place.

With one exception, the newspaper is devoted exclusively to competitions that were not won: a workshop building with three courtyards for Caritas of the Diocese of Freising/Munich. In 2018, the office won the competition with a two-story building that held some surprises, such as external stairwells. The building was occupied in 2025.

Benedikt Hartl is willing to take risks, provocative, and simply bold; rules do not seem to bother him. He masters his profession and is up to date in discussions about climate, sufficiency, and everything that goes with it. Unusual, however, is also reading about the connections between politics, society, and the built environment, and finding a quote by Gian Carlo di Carlo (1919–2005): ‘Architecture is too important to be left to architects alone.’ The jury gladly embraced this opening of architecture to society and vice versa, and thus fulfilled Benedikt Hartl’s prophecy.”

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Klaus Jan Philipp for the Weißenhof Architecture Gallery

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You can order an exhibition catalogue here.