TAELON7 Architecture and Research Studio for Emancipatory Design

TAELON7 is a translocal architecture and research practice founded by Juergen Benson-Strohmayer, operating between Vienna, London, and Accra. The studio explores marginal spatiality, civic infrastructures, and emancipatory design as tools for structural, social, and symbolic liberation. Over the past decade, TAELON7 has developed a diverse body of work spanning Austria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The practice operates at multiple scales, from full-scale construction and adaptive reuse to temporary installations and exhibitions. Key projects include the dot.ateliers Ogbojo artist residency, the Fair Trade Zone eco-manufacturing campus in Akuse, and the "At the Interstice" installation in Kumasi. The studio's work has been recognized globally, receiving the Holcim Gold Award for Sustainable Construction and the Fassa Bortolo Silver Medal. Through research and collaborative making, TAELON7 challenges dominant paradigms of authorship and permanence, proposing instead an architectural agency grounded in care, collectivity, and reconfiguration. By engaging with local actors and subaltern spatial identities, the practice activates publics and fosters civic imaginaries that drive physical and social transformation. TAELON7 focuses on creating spaces that are dynamic, open-ended, and grounded in lived conditions, treating architecture not as static enclosure but as infrastructure for encounter and resistance. Their work has been showcased at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Belvedere Museum, and Shibaura House Tokyo, reflecting a commitment to global dialogue and sustainable practice.