The Perception of the Past Shapes the Future

architect Friedrich Kurrent
project Maria-Biljan-Bilger Hala, Sommerein, Burgenland, Austria
written by Friedrich Achleitner

 

We could (or rather should) say that the Maria-Biljan-Bilger-Halle is not a building in the ordinary sense, not just architecture commenting on its time or making a statement about a trend. This is something unique, an essential and sublime testament of a “total life” relationship, a creation dealing with memory and loss, related to a biographical place located at the foot of the mountains of Leithagebirge, on the border with other Central European and East European cultures.

Friedrich Kurrent built it for his wife, the sculptor, potter and textile artist Maria Biljan-Bilger, as a space intended to hold and maintain her large oeuvre. The Halle is not a museum, but a focal point for an equally singular oeuvre that has strangely been expelled from today’s time and spirit.