summaery2026: Projects

Project information

submitted by
Lars Jonathan Bringert

Co-Authors
Studierende des Kurses Post-Benko Stadt

Mentors
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniela Zupan

Faculty:
Architecture and Urbanism

Degree programme:
Architecture (Master of Science (M.Sc.)),
Urban Planning (Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)),
Urban Studies (Master of Science (M.Sc.))

Type of project presentation
Event

Semester
Summer semester 2026

• Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8 - Hauptgebäude / Main Building
  (Oberlichtsaal)

Available during summaery's regular opening hours

Contributors:
Abriss Atlas, Correctiv

Project description

Vacant department stores, abandoned construction sites, half-finished speculative properties: the architectural legacy of the so-called »Benko Empire« remains visible in many European city centres to this day. What began as a seemingly growth-driven development venture later turned out to be the largest real estate insolvency in the history of the German-speaking world.

Founded by Austrian real estate entrepreneur Rene Benko, Signa Holding GmbH collapsed in 2023 with estimated liabilities of 20 billion euros. Through an opaque system of corporate entanglements and speculation-driven asset inflation, Benko accumulated capital – not least at the expense of inner-city development potential. His arrest in 2025 raises the fundamental question of how far city centres should be conceived as private investment vehicles versus public infrastructure.

The seminar Post-Benko City, part of the European Cities and Urban Heritage programme, examines these spatial legacies and possible trajectories forward. In collaboration with the investigative journalism team CORRECTIV, an interactive map was developed to illustrate the full extent of the 'Benko legacy'. Through systematic documentation and in-depth analysis of selected case studies, the consequences of this speculative urban development have been examined – alongside questions of rupture and alternative logics of urban growth.