Architecture Festival in Vienna - Turn On 2016

 

18/03/2016

Written by Vera Grimmer

In the Austrian cultural surroundings, a very prominent and relevant architectural symposium Turn On took place at the beginning of March; it was its 15th edition. The festival is supported by the Austrian Foundation for Architecture (Architekturstiftung Osterreich), which is led by – in the organizational and programmatic sense – Margit Ulama, phD who possesses different competences – she is an architect and a theoretician of architecture, as well as a writer and a curator of many competition entries and symposiums. The concept of the festival is very complex in its determination to encompass different architectural practices, languages, and a very wide range of projects. However, the distinctiveness of this symposium lies in its dialogical form of lectures – in the dialogues between architects, investors and the manufactures of new materials, and in between architects and moderators, who were for this very occasion, in addition to Margit Ulama, Angelika Fitz (the future director of Architekturzentrum Wien) and Michael Kerbler. The discussion format Turn On – Talk, also contributes to the research character of the festival and the intention to problematize different aspects of contemporary building. It is important for the city officials to continue participating, not just formally, but actively as well, the city officials from the Social Democratic Party and the Greens, currently in power in Vienna.

The most attention was dedicated to the problem of the urban public space, to the housing projects that thicken that space, and to the building of new city quarters in Vienna such as Seestadt Asper. Even the traditional and festive speech of the architect and urbanist Max Rieder revolved around the problem of city space nowadays. The city as a living organism requires an interdisciplinary approach that will provide a communal city space. The modern CIAM city implies both the abolishment of pedestrian routes and the division of functions. The open voluntary movement disappeared, and the evening dead zones appeared. To realize a city that offers possibilities, Rieder suggests taking actions such as: prohibiting living on the ground floor, creating flats for temporary habitation, shifting the notions of habitation and workplace. In addition, we should attempt to create smaller complexes in order to multiply smaller ‘old towns’ with their reachable walking distances and the sequences of change.

A paradigmatic example of the above mentioned would be the project Grüner Markt (Green market) by the architect Bruno Sandbichler, which includes the interactive quarter house in the location of the former south railway station in Vienna. The project developed many instruments that with their synergy contribute to the intensifying of the city life, and to social sustainability. One public and three semi-public levels of the house contain labs, spaces for seminars, and a device for the fish cultivation that is directly connected to the greenhouse – vegetable garden. This is an active space of habitation in which the borders of the flats are flexible, adjustable to the changes in families. This innovative approach has the support of the politicians, especially of the Greens; the same goes for the project of temporary habitation – a mobile student dormitory in the new city neighborhood Aspern. Here, the architect Markus Fischer further developed his investigation of the modular, flexible planning. The module in question is a wooden structure including four student rooms with communal spaces that can be transferred to other locations. Activating the ground floor is a principle that was applied in the housing project Iles flottantes by the architects Artec and Dietrich – Untertrifaller in one of the south parts of Vienna, in which the modest dimensions of social living units were compensated for by using glass facades and loggias surrounding the building.

The vertical city as a theme is present in the thinking of the architects Silvia Boday and Kathrin Aste from Innsbruck – a city that has been developing rapidly, but with limited availability of building surfaces due to its very wide green zone. The high constructions were compensated for by introducing the opening of the lower levels for the public.

The uniqueness of the Turn On Festival also lies in the great number of many short reports on single presented by different architects. In this format, Volker Giencke impressed us with the concert hall in the Latvian city Lepai, Roldan + Berengue presented their almost luxuriously conceived social housing project in Barcelona, Henke Schreieck presented his innovative business complex Erste Campus in Vienna, Grafton Architects introduced us to their university campus in Lima and Anna Heringer told us about her sustainable and humane projects such as the kindergarten in Zimbabwe or her hostels in China.

In addition to numerous important themes arising during the symposium such as the usage of the city resources, the revitalization of rural economies, the showcase of innovative materials and constructions, the theme of mediating architecture was also touched upon. The importance of the contact with the end users was emphasized, but the introduction of architectural and urbanistic themes in the curriculums proved to be of utmost importance, starting with the elementary school – so that a developed sense of understanding of ones surroundings could be achieved in the whole public sphere, not just in the privileged elitist circles.