hands have no tears Reports from a city without architecture Press Conference, 2nd March 2012 Audienzsaal, BMUKK, Minoritenplatz 5, 1014 Viennan

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1 hands have no tears Reports from a city without architecture to flow Press Conference, 2nd March 2012 Audienzsaal, BMUKK, Minoritenplatz 5, 1014 Viennan Contents: Statement, Federal Minister for Culture Claudia Schmied Abstract Concept Biographies Austrian Pavilion History Partners and Friends Dates Service All press materials (texts and images) may be downloaded at: On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture

2 2 statement by the austrian federal minister for education, arts and culture claudia schmied In 2012, it is Commissioner Arno Ritter who will be responsible for the Austrian presentation at the 13th Architecture Biennale in Venice. Arno Ritter s socio-political approach, his experience as a curator and exhibition organiser, and finally his emphasis on communi cating architecture, distinguish his tenure as commissioner. The general theme of the 13th Architecture Biennale, Common Ground, likewise suits Arno Ritter, insofar he addresses the social preconditions for the generation of space along with the future of architectural and urban planning. For Biennale director, David Chipperfield, the general theme Common Ground serves to expose the investigation of public space and of the interdisciplinary foundations of architecture to the scrutiny of political, social, and public regard. The Austrian presentation reports from a city without architecture reflects this concept and employs an interdisciplinary approach to open up new prospects into the frontiers of architecture, science, art and film. Serving as a focal point, a spatial and interactive media installation will integrate the exhibition visitor into the display. It is my firm belief, that this concept, jointly realised in Venice by Arno Ritter, architect Wolfgang Tschapeller, artists Rens Veltman and Martin Perktold, and the grafisches Büro team, will bring the Austrian presentation into the full and view of visitors to the exhibition. The Venice Architecture Biennale is the most important international exhibition of contemporary architecture. It addresses the crucial issues of its age and thereby invigorates international architecture and art discourse. Both, the international exhibitions at the Giardini, including the Austrian presentation, as well as the show at the Arsenale are the subject of intensive comment and discussion. Austria presents itself as an open-minded, cultural nation, committed to discourse. In 2012, the Federal Ministry for Education, Art, and Culture provides Euro of the funding for concept and realisation of the presentation at the Austrian Pavilion.

3 3 abstract reports from a city without architecture concept for the austrian presentation at the 13th international architecture exhibition la biennale di venezia and introduction of the individuals involved At a press conference held on 2nd of March, Claudia Schmied, the Austrian Federal Minister for Culture, and Arno Ritter presented the concept for the Austrian presentation at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia and introduced the individuals involved in the project. The working title reports from a city without architecture describes an exhibition project that seeks to bridge the gap between science and associative fiction. The concept was developed by the architect Wolfgang Tschapeller, and will be realised in cooperation with the artists Rens Veltman and Martin Perktold At the heart of the exhibition we have the relationship between the human body and the architectural space constructed to fit it, such as the city. The presentation at this year s Biennale positions itself as a spatial instrument of reflexion and architectural research, posing utopian sounding questions about the future of our cities and of architecture itself. At the same time, it addresses contemporary developments in the context of natural science, technology, and the media. The project occurs between SCIENCE and FICTION, or in other words, it is Science Fiction. Pushing beyond buildings in the actual sense, the presentation encompasses speculations on the future shape of cities and architectures and their interaction with users and visitors. reports from a city without architecture tries to visualise the formations and social physics that may take the place of our constructed cities and its real buildings in the near future. The Venice Architecture Biennale has grown into the world s most important exhibition in the field. Every two years, for a period of three months, approximately 50 nations present their projects at the Giardini and at the Arsenal, as well as all over the city. The 13th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice will be open to visitors from 29th August to 25th November 2012 (preview: 27th and 28th August 2012).

4 4 konzept reports from a city without architecture The concept for the Austrian presentation originated in an investigation of the Biennale in general as well as of the particular history of Austrian exhibitions at the event, and it lead to the realisation that the Austrian presentation needed to be developed as an independent and interdisciplinary project. This exhibition seeks to site the Austrian pavilion in international architectural discourse and to sensitise the viewer to the perceived frontiers of architecture and urban development. Studying past Austrian presentations at the Biennale of Architecture reveals that their approach was to a varying degree retrospective, thematic, or personalised. In contrast, the presentation at this year s Biennale positions itself as a spatial instrument of reflexion and architectural research, posing utopian sounding questions about the future of our cities and of architecture itself. At the same time, it addresses contemporary developments in the context of natural science, technology, and the media. At the heart of the exhibition we have the relationship between the human body and the architectural space constructed to fit it, such as the city. Based on the research and projects of Ray and Charles Eames, Bernard Rudofsky, and Superstudio who each in their own way addressed the relation of body and space and the concept of territory and supported by developments in medicine, natural science, and material properties, a fictional model for a city, valid beyond concrete architecture, is introduced into the discourse. The working title reports from a city without architecture describes a layered exhibition project that seeks to bridge the gap between science and associative fiction. The project occurs between SCIENCE and FICTION, or in other words, it is Science Fiction. Pushing beyond buildings in the actual sense, it encompasses speculations on the future shape of cities and architectures and their interaction with users and visitors. reports from a city without architecture tries to envision the formations and social physics that may take the place of our constructed cities and its real buildings in the near future. reports from a city without architecture seeks to engage us in a discourse questioning the massively material nature of architecture, the city, and its buildings, opening up prospects beyond the material and tectonic, beyond weight and construction. A tendency towards dematerialisation, the extenuation of a building s material substance, noticeable since the 19th century, is taken several conceptual steps further. The visible narrative that emerges

5 5 revolves around architecture without materiality, without weight, without walls or buildings. Why Science Fiction? We live in an age that increasingly limits architecture s range of possibilities, subjecting it to pragmatic requirements and pedestrian vision. Particularly in a time of social, economic, and mental malaise, it appears paramount to once again expand the scope of architectural possibilities. Frederik Kieslers Raumstadt (1925), Georgy Krutikov s Cities in Flight (1928), the architectural and urban concepts of Superstudio, the projects of Ray and Charles Eames, Bernard Rudofsky s exhibitions and books, as well as Yves Klein s Air Architecture, all provided leads for an investigation into new approaches and courses of action. Continuing and expanding on this tradition of visionary thinking, the planned exhibition employs state-of-the art technology and media to project its fiction.

6 6 biographies Commissioner: Arno Ritter Arno Ritter was born in Vienna, in He studied journalism, history and philosophy at the University of Vienna. From 1992 until 1995, he acted as Secretary of the Austrian Society for Architecture (ÖGFA). Since 1995, he has headed the exhibition space aut. architektur und tirol in Innsbruck (the former Architecture Forum Tyrol) presenting a programme that includes architecture, art, design, and graphic arts and providing a space for interdisciplinary discourse on shaping the spaces we inhabit. In 1999 he became a member of the Tyrol s Provincial Advisory Committee on Culture (Landeskulturbeirat); from 2000 to 2005, he sat on the board of the Austrian Architectural Foundation, and from 2005 to 2009, he was a member of the advisory council Kunst und Bau of Vorarlberg. As of 2003, he has held a lectureship in architectural critique at the University of Innsbruck, and in 2009/10, he lectured at the department of Transmedia Art of the University of Applied Arts Vienna. As author and editor, he has published mainly in the fields of architecture, photography, and art. Architect: Wolfgang Tschapeller Wolfgang Tschapeller, architect, born in Dölsach/East Tyrol, in 1956, with an architectural firm in Vienna. Following initial training as a carpenter, he enrolled at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and then at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. Since 2005, he has held a professorship in architecture at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and, in 2012, became head of the Department of Art and Architecture. He has been visiting professor at Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y., Linz University of Art, and New York State University in Buffalo. Major projects include the BVA 1, 2, 3 Series for the BVA-Buidling in Vienna, a hotel project in the gardens of the Palais Schwarzenberg in Vienna, the European Cultural Centre in Aachen, as well as projects for the Linz Music Theatre, the Science Centre in Belgrade, and a project for the extension of the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Some of his key concepts found their architectural expression in the administrative building of the Murau district commission (2002) and the St. Joseph House (2007).

7 7 The conceptual and theoretical foundation of his projects inconjunction with his interdisciplinary approach, make Wolfgang Tschapeller one of the most important proponents of contemporary Austrian architecture. Several of his projects won awards and were the subject of exhibitions, e.g. in Tokyo 2011 and 2008, Istanbul 2010, and at the Venice Biennale of Architecture of 2010, 2006, and 2004, at the National Art Museum of China, in 2006, as part of the exhibition Sculptural Architecture in Austria, in 2004 and 2006 at the Aedes Gallery, and in 2003 at the Sao Paolo Biennale of Architecture. Team: Simon Oberhammer, Jesper Bork, Mark Balzar, Franz Kropatschek, Christina Jauernik, Mechtild Weber, Gonzalo Vaillo Martinez project team Rens Veltman Martin Perktold Visual Concept and Animation Martin Perktold Martin Perktold was born in Rum near Innsbruck, in Following initial investigations into space as a student, he took up 3D art after getting his degree in Digital Art in the class of Peter Weibel at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. His approach is interdisciplinary, relying on experimentation to fuel the visual development process. Since 2001, he has worked on web-, video-, and print concepts and solutions, together with Harald Kreimel and Georg Eckmayr. In 2010, he and Mathias Reisigl founded a company specialising in architectural design and visualisation.

8 8 Visual Concept, Production, and Interactivity Rens Veltman Rens Veltman was born in 1952, in Schwaz, where he continues to reside. From 1972 to 1978 he studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the Salzburg Mozarteum, and the University of Industrial Design in Linz. In 2011, he received the Tyrol State Award for contemporary art; his work has been the subject of several exhibitions. On many levels, Rens Veltman likes to explore the limitations of individual fields and he has positioned his work at the cross-section of graphic art, painting, transmedia and interactive art, as well as robotics. His unconventional use of various artistic techniques and strategies produces projects and works that oscillate between science, art, and fiction, and which frequently defy categorisation in established art terms. artwork Graphic Design Concept: grafisches Büro grafisches Büro was founded in 2003, on the basis of the shared work of Günter Eder (*1968) and Roman Breier (*1971); in 2006, Marcel Neundörfer (*1974) joined the partnership. Repeated co-operation with architects, designers, and artists working in divers media, lead to a decision to run the firm based on an open, participatory model. The main focus of their work is the development of visual identities and the distillation of essential content in the fields of corporate, publication, and poster design. Typography often features as a crucial design medium. The development of custom scripts, names, and the creative employ of photography are all part of their extended design concept. Projects for Schauspielhaus Vienna, the Art Brut Centre Gugging, the Festival for Fashion and Photography, Caritas Austria, and layouts for books have been published internationally and won several awards.

9 9 austrian pavilion Pavillon: Josef Hoffmann The Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale was built in 1934 to a design by Josef Hoffmann ( ), one of the founding members of the Vienna Secession and the Wiener Werkstätte. Of clear, symmetric lines, the building was originally conceived as a kind of white cube for painting and graphic art. The pavilion became Joseph Hoffman s last building to gain international recognition. As early as 1910, Josef Hoffmann was responsible for exhibition architecture design at the Biennale. In the absence of an Austrian pavilion in 1909, Hungarian, Bohemian, and Moravian provinces of the Habsburg Monarchy had already erected individual national pavilions an Italian panel had invited Gustav Klimt for a retrospective at the international pavilion. At the time, Gustav Klimt s exhibition in the design by Josef Hoffmann attracted considerable international attention. After the Anschluss, Austria s annexation by the Third Reich in 1938, and during subsequent Biennale years 1940 and 1942, the Austrian pavilion remained unused. Austrian artists recognised by the NS-regime were exhibited at the German pavilion instead. After the war (from 1948 to 1956), Josef Hoffmann acted as commissioner for the Austrian contributions to the Venice Biennale, which from 1948 onward, once again took place at the Austrian pavilion. In the course of its history, the pavilion was altered several times. In 1984, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its erection, it underwent a comprehensive restoration by Hans Hollein, which restored the rooms original dimensions and the previous situation of the entrance.

10 10 history Austrian Presentations at the International Architecture Exhibition since 1991: 2010 austria under construction Österreichische Architektur in der Welt; Internationale Architektur in Österreich Commissioner: Eric Owen Moss vor der architektur Josef Lackner / Pauhof Architekten / Werner Sewing Commissioner: Bettina Götz stadt = form raum netz Friedrich Kiesler / Hans Hollein / Gregor Eichinger rock over baroque ARTEC / Wolfgang Tschapeller / Urs Bette / Delugan Meissl / Klaus Stattmann / The Next Enterprise / Stiefel Kramer Commissioner: Wolf Prix gegen den strom AWG / Querkraft / Pool / M-Preis / The Next Enterprise Commissioner: Marta Schreieck integrazione ntegrazione Heidulf Gerngross / Rainer Köberl / Jan Turnovsky / Nelo Auer Commissioner: Dietmar Steiner 2000 österreich aktionsfeld für internationale architektinnen Massimiliano Fuksas / Ben van Berkel / Norman Foster / Jean Nouvel/ Thom Mayne / Peter Cook & Colin Fournier / Greg Lynn / Zaha Hadid Commissioner: Hans Hollein

11 coop himmelb(l)au - from cloud to cloud Coop Himmelb(l)au günther feuerstein: visionäre architektur im österreich der 1960er und 1970er jahre Commissioner: Hans Hollein: Hans Hollein österreichische positionen Eichinger oder Knechtl / Hans Hollein / Günther Domenig / Raimund Abraham / Wilhelm Holzbauer / Hermann Czech / Gustav Peichl / Rob Krier / Coop Himmelblau / Adolf Krischanitz / Elsa Prochazka / Lainer Auer / Helmut Richter Commissioner: Hans Hollein

12 patrons The following patrons have generously contributed to the Austrian participation in the 13th International Architecture Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia 2012: STRABAG,

12 12 patrons The following patrons have generously contributed to the Austrian participation in the 13th International Architecture Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia 2012: STRABAG, Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft partners We would like to thank our partners for the productive co-operation and their factual and financial support: Inns bruck, Land Tirol, Trigonos, Vizrt, Waagner-Biro sponsoren We would like to thank our sponsors for their material and financial support: Sto, Swarovski, Vöslauer

13 13 friends Society of Friends of the Venice Biennale The society s goal is the promotion of research into contemporary art and architecture in connection with the Venice Biennale, in particular with relation to the Austrian Pavilion. The society is working on a digital archive of the exhibitions at the Austrian Pavilion and is intended to serve as an information platform for anybody doing research on the Venice Biennale and related subjects. As a member, you support the society s activities and help to promote the presentation of contemporary art and architecture in Venice. For further information, please send an to: friends@labiennale.at

14 14 dates 13th International Architecture Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia Preview: 27 and 28 August 2012 Press Conference: 27 August, 3 p.m. Austrian Pavilion, Giardini, Venice Duration: 29 August 25 November 2012 Opening Hours: 10:00 A.M. 6:00 P.M. (closed Mondays) Exhibition Venues: Giardini della Biennale, Arsenale October 2012 get involved discover and create common ground international symposium on architectural and design education for young people Initiator: Initiative Baukulturvermittlung Organisation: Monika Abendstein, aut. architektur und tirol The symposium provides information on new ideas and methods to communicate with children and youths on the subjects of architecture and design. As such, it addresses architects and designers, educators, scientists, youth workers, and early childhood educators, as well as policymakers on issues of architectural education. Scheduled to last two days, the symposium offers an overview of successful programmes and projects to communicate architecture on an international level, as well as insights into the educational debate on creativity and individualised environment. Numerous workshops provide hands-on experience based on Best Practices cases.

15 15 service Press Office: Bernadette Larcher T Address: 13th International Architecture Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia 2012 Austrian Pavilion: c/o aut. architektur und tirol Lois Welzenbacher Platz Innsbruck Austria F E office@labiennale.at Links: International Press Office 13th International Architecture Exhibition la Biennale di Venezia

JOSEF HOFFMANN OTTO WAGNER On the Use and Effect of Architecture

Press Release JOSEF HOFFMANN OTTO WAGNER On the Use and Effect of Architecture Press Conference Sunday, 21 May 2017, 12 noon Opening Sunday, 21 May 2017, 2 p.m. Exhibition Venue Josef Hoffmann Museum,