Currently on exhibit until October 6th at MAK Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art in Vienna, the Eastern Promises, Contemporary Architecture and Spatial Practices in East Asia focuses on the promise of a pioneering architecture, which is especially associated with East Asian countries.Projects from China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea reflect local traditions and conditions as well as a critical awareness of global media technologies leading to an architectural approach that is less interested in iconic objects and spectacular forms than in a structural realignment of society in its spatial dimensions. A program of selected short films rounds off the exhibition with moments of experimental city viewing and everyday appropriation of (public) space. More information after the break.
Architects: ARTEC Architekten Location: Vienna, Austria Architect In Charge: Bettina Götz, Richard Manahl Design Team: Björn Wilfinger, Ronald Mikolics, Michael Murauer, Anna-Maria Wolf, Aniko Horvathova, Kathrin Schelling, Wolf Deucker, Jun Wook Song Project Year: 2012 Photographs: Courtesy of ARTEC Architekten
Wolfgang Tschapeller shared with us their first prize winning proposal for the extension of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. The removal of stair and elevator cores displays a pure serial structure. What remains are solely col-umns and slabs, ready for multiple functional readings. The broadway is not only a means of circulation, it is the platform where members and knowledge of the 17 different studios meet. It is the informal marketplace for cross disciplinary projects.More images and architects’ description after the break.
The headquarters of the Verbund AG is a block perimeter development built around a central courtyard in Vienna’s first district. It was erected between 1952 and 1954 to designs by Carl Appel and is bordered on three sides by public streets or squares. The street facade extends from the square known as Am Hof along Heidenschuss towards Freyung and into Tiefer Graben. The block perimeter development is made up of two volumes, one facing onto Am Hof and the other towards Freyung. In formal terms the building refers back to the architecture of the interwar period. On the other hand the economical use of design and decorative elements, for example the window reveals of real stone, is characteristic of the post-war era. As this facade design had reached the end of its useful life, an invited competition was set up for the redesign of these areas. This competition was won by SOLID Architecture. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Vienna Design Week 2011, now in its fifth year, is Austria’s most important international design festival. From September 30 — October 9th, 2011, it will bring some of the best designers of our time to the Austrian capital while simultaneously fostering the talents of tomorrow. The festival is diversified in content — comprising positions of product design, industrial design, and furniture design. For more information, please click here.
