Unlearning imperial architectures from within

Based on the Architecten-Ball-Tänze op. 36 (1847) by the composer Johann Strauss (son), his first dedication for a society ball in the imperial capital, the workshop questions Vienna‘s imperial architectural legacy, using the practice of waltzing as a method to navigate through history, space and the body - as movement, technique and resistance. Between theory and practice, improvisation and plan, new interpretations of historical building sites emerge: from historicism to the world exhibition to the fin-de-siècle.

Guests from architecture, history and performance art examine how knowledge, meaning and rhythm circulate through body, space and material - and ask: How can imperial architecture be unlearned, rethought, redesigned?

OCT.opus 25 is a co-production of God’s Entertainment and Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna, in collaboration with Urbane Künste Ruhr and the Kulturforum Witten.Public workshop with Marlene Wagner and participants of the Vienna Architecture Summer School. In conversation with Hanna Hacker, Mzamo Nondlwana and God‘s Entertainment.

OCT.opus 25

The team of artists that go by the name of God’s Entertainment will be depositing a huge octopus replica in the pond near the Karlsplatz to offer us a new interpretation of Strauss’ waltzes.

This artistic ersatz for an octopus, representing an intriguing symbiosis between Strauss and cultural studies expert Donna Haraway, is designed to give us a completely new perspective on the waltz as such, with lively and provocative interpretations opening up unprecedented emotional and intellectual vistas on the music of Johann Strauss. With the help of an array of supporting artists, Strauss himself will conducting OCT.opus 25 and dancing to his own music. On five weekends, the project will be electrifying its audiences with humour, temperament, concerts, performances and dinners.