Szily László tárlatvezetése Schmied Andi Asset Town című kiállításán

The event is free, and everyone is welcome!

Andi Schmied: *Asset Town*

On view: April 11 – June 14, 2026

Free

Currently, the wealthiest 0.01% of society owns more than 20% of global wealth. The total wealth of ultra-high-net-worth individuals exceeds the combined annual GDP of the United States and China. 1 On average, members of this group currently own five premium properties worldwide, which primarily serve as wealth preservation and speculative assets.

Andi Schmied’s solo exhibition at Trafó Gallery explores emerging architectural types that look different and are located in distant corners of the globe, what they have in common is that, although they are residential properties, their primary function is not to provide housing, but to preserve, hide, and multiply the wealth of the world’s richest individuals. Manhattan’s super-tall skyscrapers, where penthouse apartments built with the most exclusive architectural materials often change hands without anyone ever having lived in them; Dubai’s artificial islands—which are also largely uninhabited—built primarily for economic speculation and as tourist attractions, or the luxury properties in London’s so-called “iceberg houses,” featuring multi-story basement extensions. The exhibition was preceded by years of extensive research, during which the artist developed an alter ego and, posing as a Hungarian billionaire homebuyer, viewed various luxury properties in Manhattan and Dubai. This working method allowed him to gain access to properties visible only to the world’s wealthiest and to speak with the real estate agents selling them.

In these environments—which some have called necro-architecture or zombie urbanism—almost all human presence and social connection are absent; ecological, social, and economic harms are not considered factors in the least; architecture becomes not a means of housing but a tool for preserving or increasing wealth, and thus abstract financial systems—along with the anomalies of the economic and legal structures behind them—take on physical form.

Andi Schmied (b. 1986, Budapest) graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL, London) with a degree in urban planning and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. In his work, he explores urban anomalies—places that, for some reason, do not follow the usual urban logic yet are still part of the cityscape. These may be places that deviate from their originally intended functions, utopian architectures, or even spaces of privilege. Drawing inspiration from his background in architectural and industrial design, he creates site-specific installations and artist’s books for his exhibitions and performances. His latest book, *Private Views: A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan (VI PER Gallery, Prague, 2021), won first prize in the fine arts category of the Most Beautiful Czech Books competition. The research underlying the exhibition was conducted in part as part of the Graduate Program in Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University in New York.

1 Altrata, World Ultra Wealth Report 2024. https://altrata.com/reports/world-ultra-wealth-report-2024

Further information:

https://trafo.hu/trafo_galeria/asset_town