WAM Open 2012 & ACFx - Conference ‘Architecture Corporate Foresight’ Ulm/Ischgl: From the 2nd – 5th of February 2012, the second international Architects’ World Championships in Ski and Snowboard (WAM Open) will be held in the exciting destination of Ischgl in Tyrol|Austria.

Sportloving architects and interior designers from all around the world will be able to test themselves in the disciplines of giant slalom and parallel slalom. Preceding these championships, the conference "ACF - Architecture Corporate Foresight" will be held at 2.624 m. and, with its motto “Minds ofTomorrow”, will focus on recent (technological) developments and trends in contemporary architecture. Initiator and organiser of the WAM Open is ap35 GmbH.
The WAM Open will begin with a welcoming Alpine evening followed by a get together. The day after, on Febrary 2nd, the ACFx Conference “Minds of Tomorrow” will be held for the first time. Its title refers to a broad range of themes that not so much aim to give answers, but that, more importantly, aim to generate discussions about the future of architecture. During a whole day of inspiring presentations and thoughtprovoking panel discussions by a range of internationally renowned speakers, topics like megacities, the growing urbanism of today’s world, trend research on communication structures, design, working environments and/or buildings, creative innovation-conscious startups and the future of travel and residential behaviour will provide orientation about the paradigm shift in the architecture industry that has become inevitable. In that respect, we are proud to announce that the following speakers have already been confirmed:
Assaf Biderman – SENSEable City Laboratory MIT Cambridge, Boston
Jakob Lange – BIG, Copenhagen
Astrid Piber - UNStudio, Amsterdam
Martin Deinoff – Creuna, Stockholm
David Rowan – Wired UK, London
Jürgen Mayer H.- Jürgen Mayer H. Architekten, Berlin
Alexander Rieck - Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO), Stuttgart
Steve Rogers - Google, London
Frederike Vos – The HUB, Amsterdam
Chris Bosse – LAVA Architects, Sydney
Florian Gschwandtner - Runtastic GmbH, Linz
Dr. Wolfgang Kessling – Transsolar, Stuttgart
Robert Miles Kemp – Variate Labs, Los Angeles
Tobias Mayer, Airbus, Hamburg
Benjamin H. Bratton, Center for Design and Geopolitics, San Diego.

Situated in a stunning alpine scenery, the WAM Open 2012 intends to combine an infectious enthusiasm for sports with a profound and exciting professional inspiration. In that sense, it wants to be both a physical and an intellectual challenge for those not afraid of testing boundaries. It’s thinking outside the box that counts at the WAM Open 2012! Last but not least, the WAM Open and the ACFx – conference “Minds of Tomorrow” provide you with an ideal international setting for making new contacts and/or deepen existing ones.

Further information
Preparations for the WAM Open are in full swing. Information and visual material can be requested by telephone at +49 (0) 731 140 225 0 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Up-to-date information and registration is already available on the Internet at www.wam-open.com

Image courtesy of Tourismusverband Paznaun/Ischgl