As a critical statement on current professional practice, the BDA Berlin and the BDA Hamburg present the joint exhibition "Co-Op! Young Architecture - What's up?". Architects have a special innovative power to think outside the box, are not afraid to take unconventional paths and enter into diverse collaborations. This gives them an opportunity to survive in a difficult market and make an important contribution to the urban community and building culture. What paths are young offices taking today to successfully obtain commissions and what role do collaborations play as a strategic instrument?

The collaborations initiated by young colleagues featured in the exhibition are exemplary and can be a stimulus for all architects to think about the established architecture business. After all, these young architects often take paths that lie outside the canon of rules and demonstrate that new perspectives can be opened up despite the many regulations and guidelines.young and small established offices are increasingly excluded from market access via competitions and VgV procedures. New strategies are therefore needed to make our work visible as a source of innovation and quality. In the course of the construction turnaround and the current economic challenges, collaborations that deal with cross-architectural topics such as participatory process management, climate protection and sustainability are becoming increasingly important. At the same time, the boundaries of architectural practice are becoming blurred with the growing tasks of maintaining buildings: conversions often do not require planning permission, and new players beyond traditional architectural design are becoming part of the building process. We should talk about this.

The exhibition aims to promote an open exchange about excellent young architecture in the field of tension between professional policy, public procurement and lived practice. Discussion forums on the topics of "Cooperation - how do you live it?" and "100% competition and award procedures" will complement the exhibitions in Berlin and Hamburg. We are calling on young colleagues from Hamburg and Berlin, in the BDA and not (yet) in the BDA, to take part in the debate.Co-Op! is curated by the BDA Hamburg, the BDA Galerie Berlin and the working group Strengthening Young Offices in the BDA Berlin.the exhibition will open on May 16 at 7 pm in the BDA Galerie Berlin with presentations by the participating offices followed by an open discussion. From September 2025, the exhibition will be on display at the BDA Galerie Hamburg.

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