A/C CITY
As global temperatures rise, cities are experiencing an intensified heat crisis — paradoxically – often exacerbated by the very systems designed to cool them. Modern architecture, dominated by glass facades and sealed windows, owes its existence to the widespread use of air conditioning. However, this technological marvel, once a symbol of progress, now threatens the essence of urban life. As people retreat in-doors, the vibrant pulse of the city — its unexpected street encounters and communal spaces — begins to fade.
Drawing inspiration from Peter Sloterdijk‘s essay „Luftbeben“, which delves into the profound interplay between humans and the atmospheric environments they inhabit, A/C-City explores the transformation of urban spaces through the lens of air manipulation. A/C City investigates the dialectic relationship between air conditioning and urban environments: how has the demand for climate control reshaped our cities, and in turn, how have these altered cities contributed to the changing climate?
This dynamic is most evident in economically vulnerable areas, where the proliferation of individual air conditioning units transforms building facades into mechanical ecosystems. These machines animate the architecture, turning structures into living entities that breathe, hum, and drip, mimicking the functions of human skin. Here, air and water intertwine in a delicate balance, creating micro-ecologies on the facades of our urban landscapes.
Through this installation, viewers are invited to contemplate the multifaceted outcome of air conditioning. Echoing Sloterdijk‘s insights, A/C-City challenges us to recognize air as an active agent in our urban narratives. How does our manipulation of this elemental medium redefine the fabric of city life? And as we sculpt our environments to our climatic whims, what unforeseen tremors ripple through the atmospheric and social spheres we inhabit?
Funded by the Austrian Foreign Ministry as part of the initiative IMAGINE CLIMATE DIGNITY
and the Austrian Cultural Forum Sarajevo.