Climate Capsules

Public discussion on climate change has been dominated by models and strategies which urge society to change its behaviour in order to prevent or lessen the effects of climate change. As admirable as these efforts are, it has become increasingly clear that we should start looking for ways to adapt to inevitable changes in our climate. To what extent can we or do we want to adapt ourselves to changed climatic conditions? The exhibition Climate Capsules focused on possible societal models that – depending on the strategies of adaptation we implement – can immunize us against the effects of climate change. The exhibition featured objects and application-based projects from the fields of fashion, design, architecture, urban planning and geo-engineering, supplemented by concepts of the 20th-century avant-garde. Contemporary artistic positions also reflected on the consequences of the depicted strategies of adaptation.
The exhibition has been divided into five chapters, starting at the micro level and progressing to the macro level. The first chapter highlighted “Body Capsules”, such as the space suit that has come to symbolize our conquest of inhospitable environments. The chapter “Living Capsules” presented micro-architecture dating back to the 1960s, which created climatic escape pods which both encapsulate and imprison their inhabitants. “Urban Capsules” are energetically self-sufficient city units which are sealed off to protect their inhabitants from adverse environmental effects. The chapter “Natural Capsules” examined artificial nature in enclosed spaces and the chapter “Atmospheric Capsules” dealt with the field of geo-engineering which manipulates climatological, geochemical and biochemical processes in order to control environmental processes. The exhibition has been supplemented by a symposium and an extensive accompanying programme. (Foto: Haus-Rucker-Co (Laurids Ortner, Günter Zamp Kelp, Klaus Pinter), Flyhead (Environment Transformer), Wien 1968, Foto: Ben Rose, New York) Artistic director: Friedrich von Borries
Scientific advisors: Fritz Reusswig, Peter Sloterdijk, Victor Smetacek, Hans von Storch
Participants / artists: Ant Farm (USA), Archigram (GB), Vincent Callebaut (B), Juan Downey (USA), Ecosistema Ubano (E), Haus-Rucker-Co (A), Kouji Hikawa (JP), Christoph Keller, Jana Linke, Gordon Matta-Clark (USA), N55 (DK), Lucy Orta (GB), Michael Rakowitz (USA), Tomas Saraceno (ARG), Werner Sobek, Matti Suuronen (FIN) and others