Talk at ZEIT_RAUM_FORUM 2026, Basel

Ifigeneia Dimitrakou presented her ongoing research on vacancy at at the 4th ZEIT_RAUM_FORUM – Platform for Temporary Spaces of Impact, a forum organized by Unterdessen and bringing together actors from planning, architecture, administration, culture, academia, and civil society. 

Her talk, “If vacancy obliges, then why and whom?”, argued that vacancy obliges because property itself obliges. Yet, in the context of wasteful property regimes that grant owners the right to leave space unused, this obligation is not legally defined. Instead, obligation around vacancy is best understood as embedded in social struggles over the “proper” use of property. Drawing on her research in Athens and Zurich, she showed that notions of obligation emerge from the ways in which vacancy is measured, governed, and contested, arguing that the question of whether vacancy obliges requires asking why vacancy occurs, who benefits from it, and who must take responsibility. 

Link Zeit_Raum_Forum, Basel

Caption: Logo of the Zeit_Raum_Forum. Credits: unterdessen GmbH