BUWOG x Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Factsheet
Format: Cooperation/Art in Architecture Competition
Location: Foyers in newly constructed BUWOG residential properties in Austria and Germany
Invitation: 2024
Implementation: 2025–2035
Target group: Graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Graduation 2019 or later)
Jury: Alfredo Barsuglia, Ingeborg Erhart, Ingrid Fitzek-Unterberger, Alexandra Grausam, Michael Herbek, Lisa Ortner-Kreil, EvaSo mmeregger
Jury members without voting rights: Daniel Riedl, Andreas Holler, Eva Weiß, Thomas Mahler
Winning projects: Atelier Ehrmann:Gruber: Geoide Nachbarschaften / Geoid Neighbourhoods, Viktoria Morgenstern: Über den Lorbeer Hinaus / Beyond the Laurel und Fabian Puttinger / Michael Reindel: Tauschstation / Swap Station
Info/Scope: Art in Architecture Competition organised by BUWOG in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna for new graduates. The competition was looking for an artistic, spatial exploration of residential property entrances, focusing on the foyer as a shared transitional space between the arrival to and departure from one’s HOME. Presentation of three winning projects over the next ten years at up to ten locations of newly constructed BUWOG residential properties in Austria and Germany.
Art in Architecture Competition:
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and BUWOG
As a leading residential property developer, BUWOG has long addressed the subject of HOME in its promotion of art. The Art in Architecture Competition in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna delved even deeper and focused on the foyer as the threshold between the interior and exterior and private and public. Graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna who graduated no more than five years ago were invited to engage with this shared transitional space, in which the arrival to and departure from HOME is located. Concepts for interventions, installations and artistic works by individuals, collectives and cooperating working groups in all media except sound were welcome. Three projects awarded by our jury of experts will be exhibited at up to ten locations of newly constructed BUWOG residential buildings in Austria and Germany over the next ten years. This will give aspiring talent the opportunity to present their work to a wide-ranging audience. The winning projects also received a prize of € 5,000.
The two-stage selection process and a large number of highly interesting and diverse submissions resulted in three winning projects:
The Geoide Nachbarschaften project by Atelier Ehrmann:Gruber was praised by the jury for its successful combination of art, functionality, and social value by subtly creating an orientation between the interior and exterior worlds and connecting residents with their surroundings through cartographic references.
With its playful and accessible approach to the relationship between humans and nature, its poetic spatial experience, and its flexibility in design, Viktoria Morgenstern’s submission Über den Lorbeer hinaus was recognised by the jury for its invitation to openness and harmony, as well as for its participatory character and the possibility of expansion as a system of orientation.
Tauschstation by Fabian Puttinger and Michael Reindel persuaded the jury with its innovative selection of materials, ecological sustainability and encouragement of social interaction by serving as a flexible, adaptable zone for communication and sustainable exchange within the building.
The jury was also enthusiastic to such an extent about two other entrants that cooperation with BUWOG outside of the competition was recommended for them.
Photos: © Helmut Wimmer, Barbara Pflanzner
Winning project
Atelier Ehrmann:Gruber - Geoide Nachbarschaften / Geoid Neighbourhoods
The Geoide Nachbarschaften project by Christina Ehrmann and Christopher Gruber impressed the jury as a successful ongoing development of the initial design, which positions residential buildings with respect to locations that have identical topographical elevations. Inspired by the research of Alexander von Humboldt and his “Measuring the World”, the project succeeds in creating an extraordinary link between the interior and the exterior. The cartographic references to locations both in the immediate neighbourhood as well as regionally and internationally subtly connect residents with the world about them. The jury recognised the project’s social added value in the shared experience and the realisation that, especially in times of change and transformation, everyone – whether near or far – is connected.
In terms of feasibility, the project stands out due to its flexibility in terms of situational adaptability and scalability, as it can be effectively implemented in both narrow and spacious areas, or even transferred to other building components. The idea of an orientation system offers residents an aesthetically pleasant way to find their way around a building or complex.
The jury praised the Geoide Nachbarschaften project for its successful balance as an impressive example of art in architecture, which invites visitors to reflect on the world and their own place within it, while simultaneously meeting both aesthetic and functional requirements.
Photo: © Atelier Ehrmann:Gruber
Winning project
Viktoria Morgenstern - Über den Lorbeer hinaus / Beyond the Laurel
The jury honoured the project Über den Lorbeer hinaus for its playful yet accessible approach to the relationship between humans and the natural environment. Inspired by the forms of six different laurel species from around the world, the project creates a poetic spatial experience in which the individual elements appear organic and hand-drawn. Particularly compelling is the way the project accompanies the movement of its residents – like a drawing in space. The colour scheme contributes to a welcoming, friendly atmosphere, thus creating a special quality of stay.
The jury also appreciated the flexibility and adaptability of the project, which, as a result of its modular elements, can easily respond to the existing spatial situation and elements in the foyer. Expressly desired by the artist in its implementation, the participatory nature of the project allows for ample freedom, which the jury recognised as a contemporary approach. The project’s potential to function as a system of orientation or to extend into the exterior space is compelling as well. Overall, the jury found a high level of recognition value in Über den Lorbeer hinaus and appreciated the sense of openness and harmony it conveys.
Photo: © Viktoria Morgenstern
Winning project
Fabian Puttinger | Michael Reindel – Tauschstation / Swap Station
The Tauschstation project by Fabian Puttinger and Michael Reindel convinced the jury with its remarkable approach to materials, ecology, and sustainable construction. Particularly noteworthy is the use of materials such as clay and excavated materials, including large quarry stones, whose structural versatility (especially clay) meets modern requirements while simultaneously bringing a piece of history into the present. The project can be well planned during the building's construction process and is flexibly adaptable in the foyer.
In addition to the innovative choice of materials, the project is impressive due to its provision of a space for communication and neighbourly exchange. Tauschstation is conceived as a zone of reflection within a transit space and promotes the idea of sustainability by allowing items that are no longer needed to be handed over and used by others. The jury sees this project as a successful combination of ecological responsibility and social interaction, both in its materiality and its functionality.
Photo: © Fabian Puttinger & Michael Reindel
