CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF has opened Building the Existing City, an exhibition at Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin that transforms the gallery into a working architecture studio. Running from October 23 to December 3, 2026, the exhibition centres on four architectural and urban design proposals for sites or urban situations in Berlin, selected through an open call. Over six weeks, visitors can follow the practice's research, discussions, and design work as the proposals develop, gaining insight into the processes through which architectural interventions are conceived in response to local conditions.
The four projects were identified through 4 Transformations for Berlin, an open call that ran from September 11 to October 11, 2026, inviting individuals, community initiatives, public institutions, property owners, and other organisations to nominate buildings, sites, or urban situations in need of transformation. The selected projects will be developed pro bono by CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF in collaboration with the communities and organisations connected to each site, with the team preparing initial architectural and urban design studies during the exhibition. The proposals will be presented at a closing event on December 3, marking the culmination of the six-week process.
Founded in 2010 by Ondřej Chybík and Michal Krištof, CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF works across architecture, urban design, research, and education, with offices in Prague, Brno, Bratislava, and London. Its projects span cultural, residential, educational, and civic buildings, alongside masterplans and public spaces. At Aedes, this broader portfolio is presented through four themes: PLAY, LIVE, ACTIVATE, and ADAPT, each organised around a built project and accompanied by drawings, models, videos, material studies, and research from a selection of 20 projects. Alongside the project displays, a programme of public lectures, film screenings, and workshops for school groups will extend these discussions beyond the gallery. Lectures and critique sessions for university students will also connect the exhibition to architectural education, bringing students and practitioners into conversation around the design challenges explored in the studio.
Building the Existing City builds on CHYBÍK + KRIŠTOF's work with temporary and experimental formats, including pavilions, installations, and urban activations. Its completed projects include the Jihlava Municipal Arena, the Nusle Brewery neighbourhood, and Lahofer Winery. Other exhibitions this year explore how architecture engages with existing urban environments, cultural histories, and social conditions. At the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, The fortune of the city is that it has never been perfect, on view through January 10, 2027, examines Álvaro Siza's approach to city-making through projects shaped by the historical, social, and physical conditions of their surroundings. In Shanghai, The Poetics of Survival, presented at the Power Station of Art through October 25, explores the work of Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi through an exhibition designed by OPEN Architecture and curated by Renato Anelli. Meanwhile, the Museum of Modern Art in New York is presenting Architects of Liberation: Modernism in Western Africa through January 2, 2027, examining modern architecture across seven West African countries in the context of political independence from the late 1950s to the early 1980s.
