Reports from the Borderlands

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Reports from the Borderlands

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Reports from the Borderlands

‘Reports from the Borderlands’ is a rather loose collection of architectural designs and graphic experiments from 2019-2021. It explores different tools of representation and animation to imagine abandoned realms and post-apocalyptic landscape scenarios.

Mapping of a No-mans-land

Virtual Photographies (From Dust and Ruins)

(Aerial Photo:)Top view onto the borderlands — an elevated footpath leads to its center.
We observe the abandoned city from its periphery
The ground is covered in dried-up dead wood fragments.
Section / Side view – revealing the ’emptiness’ under the surface topography and the rising ruins.
Silhouette of the city, with the enormous volcanic mountain rising in the background.
A structure reaches into the flat plains where once a salt lake used to be.
Close shot from our walk along the rusty industrial facilities that still can be found between the rocks and dunes.
Landscape initially emerges as anomalies in an ordered grid. Through densification and fractures, a topography slowly emerges that needs to be explored.

Reports from the Borderlands

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About

Hello, I’m Ferdinand, an architectural designer based in Vienna and Zurich, with an interdisciplinary approach encompassing architecture, landscape, art, and graphic design. My work focuses on the transitions between built and natural environments, exploring the spatial and ecological processes that shape landscapes and cities. I combine creative, scientific, and artisanal methods to reveal complex relationships in space, material, and time.

I’m particularly interested in hybrid landscape spaces, the reinterpretation of gardens, narrative mapping techniques, and experimental material studies. My practical experience spans various crafts—from woodworking and metal construction to prototype development and specialized dismantling—allowing me to merge theoretical design strategies with a deep fascination for materials, structures, and construction processes.

I perceive landscapes not merely as physical surroundings but as living archives of geological, cultural, and climatic processes. In my projects, I speculate on the ambivalent relationship between humans and the environment, crafting visual and spatial narratives to make these complex connections tangible. My workflow seamlessly integrates architecture, design, art, and natural sciences, utilizing diverse media—from drawing and cartography to model making, digital tools, and analog design methods.

This website serves as an ongoing archival project to store, contextualize, and exhibit past and current works and experiments. My portfolio offers a glimpse into my previous projects, reflecting my areas of interest and aesthetic language. For more information and materials on each project, please explore the respective sections on my website.

For inquiries or collaborations, feel free to contact me at ferdinand@klopfer.studio.

Diploma Presentation. Mehrzwecksaal, Semperdepot. Januar, 2023