title
year
info
description
documentation

ATELIER FOR ____

dominium terrae



Filed under:
Publication, Narrative, Digital World, Architecture

2026

publication

funded by
Bundesministerium Kunst und Kultur
Land Salzburg
Land Steiermark
and LAB5550

additional texts
WAI Architecture Thinktank
Beste Ileri

publisher
Forum Stadtpark Verlag

can be ordered here
or directly via me
“Dominium Terrae” is a powerful and unsettling exploration of humanity’s current trajectory and the futures we may be steering toward. Structured as a series of museums, each devoted to a distinct failure of the modern era, ranging from environmental collapse to economic inequality and social injustice, the book exposes the hidden costs of our systems and practices. Each exhibition serves as both a mirror and a warning, urging us to confront the consequences of inaction before they harden into disaster.

More than just critique, “Dominium Terrae” is a call to responsibility. It reminds us that the choices we make today will define the world of tomorrow. Through sharp analysis and strikingly imaginative storytelling, it challenges readers to envision and build a future that is more just, equitable, and sustainable. Thought-provoking, urgent, and deeply resonant, “Dominium Terrae” is essential reading for anyone concerned with the fate of our planet and the survival of our species.
Open book spread of Dominium Terrae: the chapter Museum of Nationalism, with an aerial photo of a dark circular pit in snow and a pale desert building on the facing page Two copies of the Dominium Terrae book on a white background, covers in black and white with large white hexagon shapes and the title in bold rounded letters Open book spread: a page of introductory text on the left, and on the right a diagram of a three dimensional grid with labelled museums plotted along x, y and z axes Open book spread: the chapter Museum of Gender in vertical text, with a grid of many small portrait photographs and a glossary on the facing page Open book spread with Acknowledgements on the left page and Credits on the right, both set in small monospaced text Open book spread printed upside down: grey gradient columns of small text and a photo of a person in yellow and green clothing against a bright sky with a sun flare Open book spread: a mirrored photograph of a green forested mountain landscape on the left, and on the right a text page inside a drawn perspective frame Open book spread with yellow green gradient backgrounds, printed upside down, showing small black and white photos of figures and a rock formation among columns of text

dominium terrae 



Filed under:
Video, Narrative, Digital World

2026

short film

awards
Honorable Mention
VAEFF 2026,
New York, USA

funded by
Land Salzburg

Written, directed
Wilhelm Scherübl

Sound:
Julia Just

Voice:
elevenlabs.io
Dominium Terrae is a short film based on the book of the same name. In a compact format, it brings to life the locations and scenarios from the book, offering a glimpse into a world shaped by absence.

WE travel across Earth after the wealthy have fled to space, leaving most of humanity behind. A collective voice, belonging to those who remain, speaks of what is left: fragments of data, buildings baking in the sun, silence where there was once noise. Not much survives. But something lingers.

Through images and narration, the film builds an atmosphere of quiet doom, inviting viewers to witness what remains when everything else is gone.
Film still of dominium terrae: the title in small pale letters on a near black frame, with a few small moon-like specks of light drifting around it Film still of dominium terrae: a bare concrete hall in black and white with a glowing sphere at the center of a rubble-strewn floor, framed by small interface text in the corners Film still of dominium terrae: a plain light grey frame with a single line of small typewriter text across the middle Film still of dominium terrae: a small fox standing in tall grass at the edge of a forest in black and white, with small interface text in the corners Film still of dominium terrae: a bright circle of light filled with scattered dark fragments flying in all directions, with small interface text on the left Film still of dominium terrae: a bright misty glow hovering behind dark trees at night, with small interface text in the corners

CCC



Filed under:
Object, Narrative, Publication

2023

publication
narratives
objects

funded by
Land Salzburg

Residency Merida
Universidad de las Artes de Yucatán
La Cupula
This project imagines a dystopian reality in which the unchecked rise of soft drink consumption plunges a nation into crisis. Diabetes, obesity, and shortened lifespans spread rapidly as corporations aggressively market sugary beverages, especially to infants and children. Government regulations collapse under the pressure of profit-driven campaigns, leaving society overwhelmed by products that erode its health. The work exposes this clash between corporate power and human vulnerability, revealing how deeply consumption shapes culture and survival.

The installation brings this narrative to life through a series of objects: oversized bottles holding 20 liters and 5 liters stand as monumental forms mirroring the everyday dominance of soft drinks in local life, while a baby bottle extends the narrative with chilling effect, pointing to the deliberate targeting of the youngest consumers. Bottle caps collected from the streets serve as silent evidence of environmental neglect, and a sculpture of the sea completes the ensemble as a symbolic piece suggesting how capitalism penetrates even the most elemental forces of nature.

>more
Three Coca-Cola bottles of different sizes against a white background: a large dark water-cooler jug, a two-liter bottle and a small bottle

Me, myself and (A)I



Filed under:
Digital World, Video, Performance

2023

research
video
performance

funded by
Land Salzburg

in collaboration with
Bernadette Maria Leitner
Flavia Mazzanti
Manuel Bonell

music by
Julia Just
This research project explores digital self-expression and identity, from the casual play of Instagram filters to fully fictional personas. Its focus is empowerment: giving marginalized communities, especially those who don't identify with their biological bodies, tools for authentic representation. Using tracking suits, participants merge their Real Self with a Digital Self, creating new "bodies" to embody, test, and transform in virtual space. Avatars, often enhanced through AI, become vessels of desire, emotion, and imagination, reflecting identities as they could be, not just as they are.

Performers & Process
The project collaborates closely with performers, particularly transgender, non-binary, and gender-fluid individuals, who step into their digital doubles. Their gestures and emotions are translated into fluid, shape-shifting avatars inhabiting virtual worlds, raising questions about identity, embodiment, and how digital self-discovery echoes back into lived reality.

Outcome
The process culminates in a video work documenting the creation and evolution of these digital selves, a cinematic reflection on the interplay between body, technology, and identity's infinite possibilities.

>more
Video still for Me, myself and (A)I: a few people move under a tall wooden lattice structure on terracotta ground, with the title in white letters across the top

OENORM B5335



Filed under:
Exhibition

2019

installation
video

exhibited
AKT 1: Europa

in collaboration with
Philippe Jans
Therese Leick
Charlie Rauchs
“I still believe that the principle is that the law has to follow politics and not politics the law.”
Herbert Kickl, FPÖ, 21.01.2019

This absurd statement serves as the starting point for a spatial installation that embodies its inherent contradiction. At the center stands a door, designed to defy convention and expectation. The entrance becomes both a literal and symbolic threshold, reflecting the distorted logic of populism, nationalism, and bigotry.

Inside, the room unfolds under the theme of Europe. A video plays recordings of people sharing their perceptions of the European Union, revealing diverse opinions, misconceptions, and hopes. The interplay of space, imagery, and narrative invites reflection on the fragile balance between law, politics, and ideology in shaping our collective future.

>more
A narrow wooden door standing slightly open in a white wall, with a strip of bright blue visible through the gap and a brass handle on the right

the defensive appearance



Filed under:
Concept

2018

The sun is hot, the inside dark. Shutters are down to keep the heat outside. The buildings become monoliths or obelisks as the facade and openings melt together.

Documenting this sculptural appearance and retouching all openings out of them, they reflect the dilemma of our society. The openness and self portrayal on online platforms vs. the loneliness and seclusion that happens in reality.

They become monuments of our society in the heart of our build environment.
Street corner with a palm tree and a white delivery truck in front of a low building with closed shutters under a blue sky Empty sidewalk running between a long windowless concrete wall and a street under a pale sky Tall beige concrete building with small recessed openings above a street with an orange crane Large gray concrete building with a flagpole behind trees and a low wall under a blue sky Tall pale building with a tree branch overhead and a scooter parked at its base on the street Tall beige tower block with a palm tree in front of it, seen from below against a blue sky with clouds

a hot stone



Filed under:
Architecture, Concept

2026

awards
Honorable Mention
A sauna and greenhouse retreat in the lava field near Mývatn in Iceland, designed as one building beside the existing house Púfa. The light, fully glazed greenhouse forms the outer envelope, and the sauna sits inside it as a dense, dark inner mass. Visitors can step straight into the sauna or wander through the plants first, with no single prescribed path. A modular timber frame on screw piles, lava stones gathered on site and passive ventilation keep the building light on the land and easy to remove.
Render of a glazed greenhouse with a stacked lava stone facade and a timber door, set in a lava field beside a grey gabled house under a clear blue sky Board titled a hot stone with a night photo of the glowing pink greenhouse in the snow next to a dark wooden house, beside the floor plan and the text of The Idea Board with The Process, six small diagrams showing how the greenhouse and sauna are placed next to the main house, and The System, an exploded drawing of the timber frame, roof, ventilation, insulation and lava stone facade Board with a photo of the timber interior, a wooden walkway between plants leading to a black sauna volume with a stone facade, next to two section drawings Board with a render of the greenhouse and house in the lava field, next to two elevation drawings showing the lava stone facade rising from open to dense

Postcards from the Forest



Filed under:
Narrative, Concept

2020

After President Trump made statements about our marvelous forest cities, I took the chance to create some Postcards from the Viennese city center.

Everything is real, nothing is fake!
Postcard from the Forest: black and white photograph of tall slender pine trunks in a dense forest Postcard from the Forest: black and white aerial view of a large palace-like building rising above a dense forest canopy Postcard from the Forest: black and white view of a neoclassical building with columns standing between tall tree trunks Postcard from the Forest: black and white close view of a few tall pine trunks with a bright gap between them

placed on hold
Auf Eis gelegt



Filed under:
Concept, Object

2018

in collaboration with
Therese Leick
A brightly lit object in the midst of the fairytale snowy landscape attracts the attention of the bypasser. In the next second it is already in the cloud and collects likes. Approaching the scene, a sculpture made of ice becomes visible. A frozen object flashes through it. The ice sculpture enclosing it, denies immediate access to the wrapped object. In contrast to our usual constant accessibility, the object of ice teaches us an exercise of patience. The slow melting releases the interior. Do you return or are you satisfied with a superficial view?

Ice as a material metaphorically reflects the short-lived nature of our media society. Its transience shows that we have no control over the further course of the information provided by us. After the dissolution of the ice, only a remnant of the 21st century and the traces left by our data on the Internet remain in the place of the sculpture.
Snow covered hillside with fir trees and a small pink object lying in the open snow Snowy mountain slope with deep drifts and a small pink object resting in the snow, with tiny tracks leading to it

behind the scene



Filed under:
Concept, Architecture

2015

awards
1st Prize

in collaboration with
Therese Leick
Some locations are so highly renowned that their surroundings consequently lose their relevance, even though they carry an important history of their own. Being overshadowed by the main attraction, these neighbouring areas are mainly used as transitional spaces. As people move between these places, the spaces begin blurring in the background and get less and less noticed until they become non-places.

The modest intervention of angled mirrors restricts the view of the monument and renews the spectator’s point of interest. By redirecting the visitors’ perception towards the forgotten places around the monument, people are led to rethink their acknowledgement of the spaces “behind” the scene.
Competition board for behind the scene: a dark monumental stone wall with a lone visitor in front of angled mirrors, with text and technical drawings along the sides



© Wilhelm Scherübl