Inhabiting Heat

Inhabiting Heat
Is heat something that exists or something we experience? Is heat a bodily crisis? Can an urban body withstand temperatures of 45 °C? Is it a matter of matter?
An ongoing research-by-design project investigating how the historic Central European building fabric can be transformed in times of increasing heat.
Fabian Buxhofer
Vienna, Austria
About
Architect working at the intersection of architecture, research, and design.
Links
Field of work
Architecture, Design, Urban planning, Research
Project submitted
2026

Fabian Buxhofer is a Vienna-based architect working at the intersection of architecture, research, and design. He earned his Master’s degree in architecture from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where his thesis was awarded the university’s honorary art prize.
His work has been exhibited internationally and supported by national grants. Alongside his university teaching engagements, he runs an independent studio focused on research-driven architectural projects.

Cities are heating up. The dense, historic building fabric from the 19th century contributes significantly to urban heat. Yet flexible and therefore enduring, it is set to undergo another profound transformation. Instead of being demolished, it shall be reimagined and transformed. The distinctive perimeter block development, which forms courtyards and streets, will be examined as an urban configuration that shapes climatic and social conditions:

Is heat something that exists or something we experience? Is heat a bodily crisis?
Can an urban body withstand temperatures of 45°C?
Is it a matter of matter?

Is this transformation a technical or a cultural issue?
When does warmth become heat? Is heat to warmth what noise is to music?

Are buildings geological projects?
Shall we enclose or excavate spaces?
Can buildings be an extension of the ground? Can buildings help preserve the ground? Can our buildings start to breathe with us? Can we come “down to Earth”?

Are soil, wind, water, darkness, and humidity enough for a spatial concept?
Why is clay from the ground still waste? Is there clay underneath my feet?
Are buildings allowed to erode? Why do ruins seem so in balance between the human and the non-human ecosystems? Are ruins a state? A process? Or can ruins even be seen as an approach?

Why is it so cool underground but unbearable above ground?
Do we really want to live underground? Do we need shelters? Who is attacking us?
Can we inhabit the ground - above ground?

Are ecological issues social issues?
How do we live together in a hot city? Does inhabiting heat ask for a new spatial and material culture? What new social spaces emerge?
Is coolness a new commons? Should there be a human right to soil?

Do we need more architecture or just a reconfiguration?
When we add something, where do we take it from?
When it comes to transformation, can questions be as productive as answers?
Are there questions that are too important to be answered?