Space for Space: documentary The Automotive Human and presentation of ab magazine

The event Space for Space combines a screening of the documentary film The Automotive Human and a presentation of the new issue of ab – arhitektov bilten magazine, which focuses on issues of space, living, and the future of cities.

The Automotive Human

A society gone astray and ways to get it back on track
Director: Reinhard Seiss, Vienna 2025, modular, 90—200 min

The latest documentary from urban planner Reinhard Seiss is a stirring appeal for a radical transport transition going far beyond the current policy goals. According to Seiss, such a transition is imperative if efforts to protect the climate as well as conserve land and resources are to have any hope of success.

His documentary explores the spatial, ecological, economic and social aspects of mobility and transport and exposes the direct and indirect drivers of "the automotive system": decision-makers and profiteers from politics and industry, the legal and financial frameworks that underpin our mobility systems — and, last but not least, town planning and urban development as the simultaneous cause and effect of traffic flows.

With compelling examples of best practice from across the entire German-speaking region, the film shows that both people and the economy can function perfectly well with far less car traffic. On the other side of the coin, it shows how our "robber economy", despite its claims of sustainability, is preventing a transport transition with its unquestioning belief in technology und fixation on growth.

The numerous examples presented by Seiss — some shocking, some absurd — of political and corporate denial and whitewashing are often so striking that viewers can do nothing but laugh and/or shake their heads in disbelief. The film's pointed commentaries provide plenty of occasion for both. What remains is the realisation that in transport, nothing needs to be the way it is. And that this shift towards future-proof mobility is only likely to happen if people take the initiative themselves.

Further information and DVD sales at www.urbanplus.at

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the director and a presentation of the new issue of ab magazine, which focuses on space as a social, cultural, and political issue.

Screening is in english language.

Guests:

Reinhard Seiss, director
Gašper Skalar, president of the Ljubljana Architects Society
Timotej Jevšenak, editor-in-chief of ab – arhitektov bilten magazine

Free admission.