Situating architectural performance: ‘star architecture’ and its roles in repositioning the cities of Graz, Lucerne and Wolfsburg

Since the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in 1997, the topic of how ‘star architecture’ plays a decisive role in urban regeneration has been discussed in academic debates as well as in the media. Efforts to emulate the so-called Bilbao effect followed internationally. However, not every city that commissions the design of a public cultural building to a star architect seeks to replicate that effect. This overarching narrative has nevertheless constituted a powerful background representation. This paper discusses the supposed replicability of the ‘effect’. The aim is to emphasize relational situatedness and plurality of roles of star architecture as a device of urban regeneration. The process of repositioning of a city does not necessarily follow the logic of international economic competition. When it comes to medium-sized cities, we observe that they aim at distinction within a specific field, in their nation-state, or try to reinvent their internal dynamics. This process can have expressive and symbolic, not merely instrumental character, and be understood as more of a socio-cultural performance rather than a purely economic investment. We juxtapose three empirical cases to illustrate the argument: Kunsthaus in Graz, Culture and Congress Centre Lucerne and Phaeno Science Centre in Wolfsburg.