The basic architectural structure of the add on project consists of scaffolding elements and container-like spatial components. Thanks to their symbolic power and their usability in the middle of the urban landscape the individual elements taken together have the effect of a parasite, ascribing new meanings to the urban environment and stimulating passers-by to discover their own ways of using it.
The recently redesigned square, Wallensteinplatz in Vienna’s Brigittenau, serves as a platform for this temporary scaffolding sculpture. With its various functional and abstract objects, the temporary intervention based on an intricate and expandable modular system thus becomes a public venue for individual and collective experiences where basic human and social needs such as living, eating, working and communicating can be satisfied. As a work in progress the traffic node Wallensteinplatz is temporarily charged with new meaning within the context of public life.
The variable construction was built using a standard scaffolding system consisting of various levels and spatial elements which are interconnected by means of stairs and corridors. |
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The plan is to connect the individual building elements that the visitor can enter - some being prefab standardized elements such as superstructures for trucks, silos, tanks, prefab facades or containers taken from their original context - so that they relate to each other in both a technical and thematic sense.
As a cultural focal point at a remove from the established institutions, add on also offers an opportunity for a number of artistic activities such as audiovisual presentations, exhibitions or installations related to the scaffolding. One of the central modules of the scaffolding sculpture is the temporary living and working space created for invited artists. These “artist-in-residence” units are being designed and developed by students of the Department for Housing Construction and Design at Vienna University of Technology as part of a course headed by Peter Fattinger and Michael Rieper. Curators Viera Jancekova, Michael Secanska and Vitus H. Weh were invited to select the contributing artists from among the projects submitted.
Thanks to the active involvement of artists on site, works will emerge that relate directly to the specific conditions at Wallensteinplatz and interact with the people who happen to pass by and view the add on.
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