Winning proposal to become a new landmark artwork at CEU’s Vienna Campus.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA, February 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Central European University (CEU) is pleased to announce that Andreas Fogarasi has been selected as the winner of its international 35th Anniversary Public Art Commission. The winning proposal, “The Facades of CEU”, will be realized as a permanent public artwork at CEU’s campus in the Favoriten district of Vienna, with installation planned for fall 2026 and the official unveiling during CEU’s 35th Anniversary Celebration in November 2026.
Selected from four outstanding finalist proposals, the winning project was chosen for its compelling artistic vision and its strong engagement with the commission’s core themes: resilience, diversity, and the creation of new forms of community in the face of displacement and transformation.
“The selection committee was inspired by the depth and clarity of the proposal,” said Mathias Moschel, Pro-Rector for External Relations.
“For me, this project is deeply personal. I have been connected to CEU for many years, through both professional collaborations and personal relationships in Budapest. Drawing a continuous line from façade to façade – from Budapest to Vienna – felt like tracing not only the architectural history of the university, but also its intellectual and human journey. It is a gesture of connection across cities, across moments of change, and across communities,” commented the winner, Andreas Fogarasi.
About the Winning Proposal
The winning proposal traces CEU’s journey from Budapest to Vienna, reflecting the university’s history of resilience and transformation. Using vinyl on the glass façade, the work layers outlines of former CEU buildings and key moments from its past to create a transparent visual narrative of change. It makes CEU’s values of openness, research, and academic freedom visible to students, staff, and the wider public.
The selection committee – including French designer Matali Crasset, Swiss participatory artist San Keller, Viennese architect Michael Rieper, and CEU Pro-Rector for External Relations Mathias Moschel – praised the proposal for its artistic excellence, feasibility, and meaningful dialogue with CEU’s history and future.
“I wanted to look very precisely at CEU’s history of transformation and make that knowledge visible and accessible. The glass architecture in Vienna speaks of openness and constant change – qualities that define the university itself. Art in this context can create a space without restrictions, a space that breaks boundaries and communicates CEU’s values to everyone who passes by – students, neighbors, and the wider public in this diverse district,” said Andreas Fogarasi.
The realization phase will begin in spring 2026, including detailed design development, technical planning, and fabrication. The work will be installed in the publicly accessible outdoor areas of CEU’s Quellenstrasse campus, contributing a bold and contemporary artistic statement to Vienna’s Favoriten district. Envisioned as a new cultural landmark for the neighborhood, the artwork has the potential to become a defining visual point of reference – much like the Hundertwasserhaus is for Vienna’s Landstraße district – offering Favoriten its own iconic destination for contemporary public art.
Acknowledging the Finalists
CEU extends its sincere appreciation to all four finalists for their exceptional proposals and thoughtful engagement with the commission:
Solweig de Barry, Johannes Mundinger – Echoes on Glass
Andreas Fogarasi – The Facades of CEU
Kund Kopacz – A Conference of the Birds
Danielle Pamp, Florian Aschka, Larissa Kopp, Sigi Sekira – Crossroads to New Ways
Each project offered a distinct and inspiring interpretation of CEU’s spirit, reflecting the high level of creativity and critical engagement that characterized the international call.
About the Art Commission
In October 2025, CEU launched a call for a bold, contemporary artwork to mark the university’s 35th anniversary – an artwork that captures the university’s spirit of transformation and speaks of freedom, critical inquiry, and community across cultures. The commission invited artists to conceptually and architecturally engage with the urban environment of CEU’s Vienna campus and to create a lasting public landmark.
About CEU
Founded in 1991 and based in Vienna since 2019, Central European University (CEU) is a non-profit private university with around 1,500 students from more than 100 countries pursuing bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs accredited both in the United States and Austria. With more than 200 outstanding faculty members and researchers, CEU maintains an excellent student–faculty ratio and consistent external recognition through prestigious research awards and third-party funded projects. CEU is committed to equal opportunity, diversity, open societies, and freedom of expression – exemplified through initiatives such as the “Invisible University for Ukraine.” CEU maintains a research and civic engagement presence in Budapest through the CEU Democracy Institute, the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archivum (OSA), the CEU Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), and the CEU Center for Ethics and Law in Biomedicine (CELAB), as well as a wide range of public educational programs, lectures, and cultural events, organized by the Civic Engagement, Arts and Culture Unit.
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