Something Fantastic

Something Fantastic is a German architecture office founded in Berlin in 2010 by Elena Schütz, Julian Schubert, and Leonard Streich. The practice describes itself as an "undisciplinary" architecture office, a term that signals its refusal to be confined to conventional architectural services. Its work ranges from building design and urban strategies to exhibition-making, curation, publishing, and academic teaching. The three partners met while studying architecture at the Universität der Künste (UdK) Berlin and ETH Zürich, and they have maintained a parallel teaching practice at institutions including ETH Zürich, the Sandberg Instituut, Syracuse University, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, and, since 2025, as guest professors at UdK Berlin. The office first gained wider recognition with the 2010 publication "Something Fantastic: A Manifesto by Three Young Architects on Worlds, People, Cities, and Houses" (Ruby Press), which set out a broad, socially and culturally engaged agenda. This was followed by collaborations on research-driven books such as "Building Brazil!" and "Cidade de Deus – City of God!" (with Marc Angélil and Rainer Hehl), which received the DAM Architectural Book Award in 2013. Across its built and speculative work, Something Fantastic has pursued themes of housing, informality, collective living, and the reuse of existing resources. A recurring concern in the practice is the design of spaces that support changing patterns of living and working. The Atelierhaus Ackerstraße in Berlin, for example, is organized to avoid vacancies by mixing studios, offices, kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms, and by allowing rooms to be used flexibly over daily and life cycles. The office has also been active in the cultural sphere, contributing to the 2016 and 2023 Venice Architecture Biennales, the 2020 Triennale di Milano, and exhibitions at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. In 2024, it designed the main venue for Art Week at Martin Gropius Bau as a curatorial project built from "only borrowed things," including a flag made from blue vapor barrier, a moonlight held by construction cranes, sandbag seating, rental cars with car tables, and tents. Something Fantastic operates as a private partnership. Its partners have been recognized with awards and residencies, including a 2021 fellowship at the Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo. The office continues to work at the intersection of architecture, research, and cultural production, with a focus on temporary interventions, housing, and the public role of design.

Something Fantastic was founded in Berlin in 2010 by Elena Schütz, Julian Schubert, and Leonard Streich, who had studied architecture at the Universität der Künste (UdK) Berlin and ETH Zürich. The practice emerged at a moment when architectural discourse was increasingly questioning the boundaries of the discipline, and the partners adopted the term "undisciplinary" to describe an approach that deliberately mixes architecture with research, publishing, curation, and teaching. In 2010, the office published "Something Fantastic: A Manifesto by Three Young Architects on Worlds, People, Cities, and Houses" with Ruby Press. The book set out a broad, socially engaged agenda and helped establish the office's reputation beyond conventional practice. This was followed by collaborations with Marc Angélil and Rainer Hehl on "Building Brazil! Proactive Urban Renewal of Informal Settlements" (2011) and "Cidade de Deus – City of God!", both published by Ruby Press. In 2013, these publications received the DAM Architectural Book Award, recognizing their contribution to architectural research and discourse. Alongside publishing, the partners developed a significant teaching practice. They served as assistants to Marc Angélil at ETH Zürich from 2012 to 2019, and subsequently taught at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam (from 2019), Syracuse University (2021), and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie (from 2019). In 2025, they were appointed guest professors at UdK Berlin. This academic engagement has informed the office's research-driven approach to housing, informality, and collective living. The office's built and speculative work includes the Atelierhaus Ackerstraße in Berlin, a studio building designed to interlink living and working and to avoid vacancies through flexible room use. The building is organized with street-facing and courtyard-facing sides, placing studios, kitchens, and living rooms at the front and bedrooms at the rear. Core apartments and one-room studios are arranged to allow rooms to be used independently or as part of larger constellations, addressing both weekly rhythms and life-cycle changes such as children leaving home. Something Fantastic has also been active in the international exhibition circuit. It contributed to the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale and the 2020 Triennale di Milano, where an aluminium model of the "Constellations House" was shown in the exhibition "State of the Art of Architecture". The "Constellations House" project was also included in the 2021–2022 exhibition "A Section of Now" at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. In 2023, the office participated again in the Venice Architecture Biennale, and in 2024 it contributed to the Beta 2024 Biennale in Timișoara, Romania, with the project "cover me softly". In 2024, Something Fantastic designed the main venue for Art Week at Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin. Approaching the commission as a curatorial project, the office developed a masterplan that involved "only borrowed things". The design included a flag made from blue vapor barrier, a moonlight held up by construction cranes, seating made from sandbags, a few rental cars with car tables by Sam Chermayeff Office, and tents by Gustav Düsing. The aim was to create a functional landscape with a unique aesthetic that acknowledged its temporality without appearing arbitrary. Recognition for the practice includes a 2021 fellowship at the Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo. The office continues to operate as a private partnership from Berlin, working across architecture, curation, publishing, and teaching.

• Founded in Berlin by Elena Schütz, Julian Schubert, and Leonard Streich.

• Published "Something Fantastic: A Manifesto by Three Young Architects on Worlds, People, Cities, and Houses" with Ruby Press.

• Collaborated on "Building Brazil! Proactive Urban Renewal of Informal Settlements" with Marc Angélil and Rainer Hehl.

• Served as assistants to Marc Angélil at ETH Zürich.

• Received DAM Architectural Book Award for "Building Brazil!", "Cidade de Deus – City of God!", and "Housing Cairo".

• Participated in the Venice Architecture Biennale.

• Began teaching at Sandberg Instituut and Gerrit Rietveld Academie.

• Contributed an aluminium model of "Constellations House" to the Triennale di Milano exhibition "State of the Art of Architecture".

• Received fellowship from Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo.

• Taught at Syracuse University.

• "Constellations House" included in "A Section of Now" at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal.

• Designed main venue for Art Week at Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin.

• Contributed to Beta 2024 Biennale in Timișoara, Romania, with "cover me softly".

• Appointed guest professors at UdK Berlin.

An 'undisciplinary' architecture office operating at the intersection of architecture, curation, publishing, and teaching, with a focus on housing, temporary interventions, and resource reuse.

• Atelierhaus Ackerstraße

  A studio building in Berlin designed to interlink living and working and avoid vacancies through flexible room use.

• Constellations House

  A housing project exhibited at the 2020 Triennale di Milano and the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

• Art Week 2024 main venue at Martin Gropius Bau

  A curatorial project using only borrowed things, including a flag made from blue vapor barrier, a moonlight held by construction cranes, sandbag seating, rental cars with car tables, and tents.

1. 1SOMETHING FANTASTIC - An "undisciplinary" architecture officesomethingfantastic.net
2. 2Something Fantastic - Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
3. 3Something Fantastic - Wikidatawikidata.org