Challenging relationality and participation. The Austrian pavilion at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale 2023

IMPACTThis article offers important practical insights for policy-makers, cultural managers, and urban governance practitioners. It moves beyond theoretical critique to highlight how non-convergent relationships between powerful organizations, public authorities, and civic actors can transform potential goods into contested and rival resources. For professionals working in fragile urban contexts, the study provides a roadmap to understanding the governance pitfalls of large-scale institutions. Most importantly, the authors identify the regulatory design of concessions as a primary site of institutional friction. By demonstrating how standard concession models can block grassroots participation, the findings call for a shift toward context-sensitive regulatory frameworks that transcend New Public Management constraints. This research serves as a catalyst for reforming concessionary models and institutional arrangements, advocating for governance structures that are inherently dialogic and capable of supporting the ‘urban commons’ rather than merely managing cultural assets.