Action
Exhibition
Stop Building! Take Care.
in Line Armenian Biennale: Up in the Air,
Yerevan, Armenia: 5 September - 8 October, 2025
Stop Building! Take Care.
Դադարեցրո՛ւ շինարարությունը։ Հոգատար եղի՛ր
"Stop Building!”Isn't that an easy call to make in the name of sustainability, from our over-built, solidified Western cities? What about the growing population, the comfort standards, the craving for modernity? Seeking to go beyond the provocation, "Stop Building! Take Care.” is an excerpt from the nine demands made by architect and scholar Charlotte Malterre-Barthes ("A Moratorium on New Construction", Sternberg Press, 2025) to interrogate new construction everywhere as the silver bullet for everything, from housing provision to economic wealth. Seeking to expose the mechanisms of space production as grounded in corruption, resource extraction, destruction of agrarian land or demolition, "Stop Building! Take Care.” asks to reconsider and interrogate global growth and newness narratives to instead cherish and maintain what is already there. riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riotriot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot
Acknowledging the legitimate desires for progress while challenging their current implementation, the banner holding these demands cascades from the balcony of AHA collective’s gallery in the heart of Yerevan, transforming a private architectural element into a platform for public discourse, in response to Armenia's ongoing construction boom—characterized by heritage demolition, speculative development without infrastructure provision, and international architectural impositions. riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot A public intervention drawing from activism communication methods, the banner references squat aesthetics, holding the bilingual critical demands from "A Moratorium on New Construction"—a call to stop building new everywhere—designed by Armenian typographer Sargis Antonian into a thoughtful manifest readable to all.
[1] Artwork: Malterre-Barthes, Charlotte. Stop Building! Take Care.Դադարեցրո՛ւ շինարարությունը։ Հոգատար եղի՛ր. 2025. Typographer Artist: Sargis Antonian. Acrylic on reconstituted pillow cases. Line Armenian Biennale 2025: Up in the Air. AHA Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia. 5 September-8 October 2025. This collaborative project between RIOT EPFL and the curatorial practice AHA collective in Yerevan is developed for the LINE Armenian Architecture Biennial; Typeface: StopCondensed (Arm., Latin), Sargis Antonian, 2025.
[2] Team: Sargis Antonian (AHA Collective), Nairi Katchadourian (AHA Collective), Kathlyn Kao (RIOT); Special thanks to: Eric Duong and CRL Laboratory, EPFL
[3] Image credit: Daniil Primak & Line Armenian Biennale.





Action
Exhibition
Stop Building! Take Care.
in Line Armenian Biennale: Up in the Air,
Yerevan, Armenia: 5 September - 8 October, 2025
Stop Building! Take Care.
Դադարեցրո՛ւ շինարարությունը։ Հոգատար եղի՛ր
"Stop Building!”Isn't that an easy call to make in the name of sustainability, from our over-built, solidified Western cities? What about the growing population, the comfort standards, the craving for modernity? Seeking to go beyond the provocation, "Stop Building! Take Care.” is an excerpt from the nine demands made by architect and scholar Charlotte Malterre-Barthes ("A Moratorium on New Construction", Sternberg Press, 2025) to interrogate new construction everywhere as the silver bullet for everything, from housing provision to economic wealth. Seeking to expose the mechanisms of space production as grounded in corruption, resource extraction, destruction of agrarian land or demolition, "Stop Building! Take Care.” asks to reconsider and interrogate global growth and newness narratives to instead cherish and maintain what is already there. riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riotriot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot
Acknowledging the legitimate desires for progress while challenging their current implementation, the banner holding these demands cascades from the balcony of AHA collective’s gallery in the heart of Yerevan, transforming a private architectural element into a platform for public discourse, in response to Armenia's ongoing construction boom—characterized by heritage demolition, speculative development without infrastructure provision, and international architectural impositions. riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot riot A public intervention drawing from activism communication methods, the banner references squat aesthetics, holding the bilingual critical demands from "A Moratorium on New Construction"—a call to stop building new everywhere—designed by Armenian typographer Sargis Antonian into a thoughtful manifest readable to all.
[1] Artwork: Malterre-Barthes, Charlotte. Stop Building! Take Care.Դադարեցրո՛ւ շինարարությունը։ Հոգատար եղի՛ր. 2025. Typographer Artist: Sargis Antonian. Acrylic on reconstituted pillow cases. Line Armenian Biennale 2025: Up in the Air. AHA Gallery, Yerevan, Armenia. 5 September-8 October 2025. This collaborative project between RIOT EPFL and the curatorial practice AHA collective in Yerevan is developed for the LINE Armenian Architecture Biennial; Typeface: StopCondensed (Arm., Latin), Sargis Antonian, 2025.
[2] Team: Sargis Antonian (AHA Collective), Nairi Katchadourian (AHA Collective), Kathlyn Kao (RIOT); Special thanks to: Eric Duong and CRL Laboratory, EPFL
[3] Image credit: Daniil Primak & Line Armenian Biennale.





BP 3241, Station 16, CH-1015 Lausanne / T: +41 21 693 00 53 / E: riot@epfl.ch / IG: @riot-epfl
© 2026, RIOT EPFL ENAC
BP 3241, Station 16, CH-1015 Lausanne / T: +41 21 693 00 53 / E: riot@epfl.ch / IG: @riot-epfl
© 2026, RIOT EPFL ENAC