31.10.2024

Austrian Pavilion

Building design

Narrative of Eurocentrism. The time setting “1914 – 2014” does not fit for all countries. Harald Trapp and Christian Kühn, curators of the Austrian Pavilion, take the temporary perspective a step further. The theme: Parliaments

Baumeister: In January, “die Presse” published a special edition entitled “1914-2014”, which provided a historical overview of this period in Austria. “Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014” is the title of this year’s Biennale. What does this mean for the concept of the Austrian Pavilion?
Christian Kühn: We wanted to deal with parliamentary architecture right from the start. We had an internal working title for this: “Absorbing Democracy: 1814-2014”, as we are of the opinion that 1914 is not a good time to start a history of democracy. The Congress of Vienna in 1814 was, in a sense, the zero point from which democratic development in Europe began again after the rise of absolutism. The bourgeois revolution of 1848 was the first milestone, accompanied by the idea of the strengthening of the nation state, the redivision of Europe in 1871, the catastrophes of the First and Second World Wars and the final victory of democracy, which brought lasting peace to Europe. This is, of course, a Eurocentric construction, one of the last great narratives left to the West.

B: And what does the global perspective mean?
C K: In dealing with the parliaments of the world – and thus a global perspective – we have seen that completely different narratives are relevant in other regions. In Africa, for example, the establishment of parliaments is associated with the end of colonialism, with liberation and the creation of a constitution, and finally with the construction of a building. Although this is a narrative of its own, most of these parliaments refer architecturally to the European tradition. And sometimes with strange appearances, such as the parliament of North Korea, which bears a striking resemblance to the parliament of Finland, both in the style of classicism. In North Korea, however, there is only one session per year. If a dictatorship obviously feels comfortable in such a classicist building, the question must be asked: How much hie-rarchic, absolutist and even dictatorial is there in this type of architecture, which was decisive for around two thirds of parliamentary buildings in the world, even in the major democracies? This cannot be explained purely in terms of architectural history: After all, most of them were built after 1950.

B: The reversal of political hierarchies as a result of social change also calls for new spatial structures in which democracy can be reinterpreted. Is power architecture still relevant?
C K: Today, power is more visible in the large mass movements in public space. There is still enthusiasm for politics there. In Cairo on Tahrir Square, two million people were on the move to represent their political will. These enormous masses of people were only able to organize themselves for a long time via new media such as Facebook and Twitter. New physical structures would be needed for the distribution of power, which otherwise takes place behind the scenes and not in public space.

B: Do you plan to give these movements, which also represent the political will of the people, a space in events?
C K: We are planning a series of discussion events in the pavilion in cooperation with the Italian architecture magazine “San Rocco”. Among other things, we will invite speakers from Tirana to discuss Coop Himmelb(l)au’s designs for the Albanian parliament. The full program will not be known until the opening.

B: What does the concept of a national pavilion still mean today?
C K: The national pavilions in Venice must be seen as a bizarre experimental arrangement. An artificial boundary is drawn, which in the end turns out to be unproductive if you want to clarify something. In architecture, I think the regional boundary is even more productive and then, of course, the global trends. Our exhibition is also an ironic statement in that a national pavilion represents all the other nations with their parliaments. You can see what happens when the political class of a country wants to realize something very special. Architecturally, this rarely results in anything particularly good. Oscar Niemeyer’s parliament in Brasilia and Louis Kahn’s parliament for Bangladesh in Dhaka are among the few exceptions.

B: When constructing parliament buildings, isn’t it problematic to formulate the lowest common denominator visually?
C K: That is probably also a motive for the many classicist parliaments: a language that everyone thinks they understand. In Austria, we also have a classicist parliament, and the last attempt to renovate the plenary chamber, a rather elegant achievement from the 1950s, was also unable to opt for a radical solution. Even the smallest changes, such as the installation of two lecterns that would allow speeches and counter-speeches, could not be implemented without a constitutional amendment. This inertia has a purpose, of course, but if it goes too far, trust in the institution diminishes.

B: How do you resolve the national aspect in your exhibition?
C K: Our exhibition could also be seen as a glorification of the nation state. That is why we have endeavored to present these monumental buildings in an unmistakably precarious position, because they can no longer solve the larger world problems individually, but only in a supranational structure. They normally stand firmly on the ground, representing a world axis and a center around which the nation rallies. Now they hang rather pale and tilted at 90 degrees on the wall. There is brief basic information about the models directly on the wall, as well as a pocket catalog with additional information, which is displayed in the room. An issue of the magazine for architectural theory “UmBau” is also being published to accompany the exhibition, in which we have asked authors from various disciplines to address the role of architecture in representative democracies.

02.12.2024

To new shores

Building design

After 25 years, the city of Siegen is getting its river back. And that’s not all: the “Zu neuen Ufern” project by Atelier Loidl was awarded the bdla Landscape Architecture Prize 2017.

“To new shores” is the title of the urban development concept for Siegen’s city center. Its core: the uncovering of the city river Sieg, which the city administration ceremoniously returned to the citizens in 2016 after 25 years of being covered over. The new design is well received: The bdla awarded the project the Landscape Architecture Prize in the “Green Infrastructure as a Strategy” category at the beginning of May 2017. The development of the concept, from modeling to implementation, can be followed here in the video.

With the “Zu neuen Ufern” project, the city of Siegen is giving its river back to its citizens after 25 years of being covered over. The concept was developed by Atelier Loidl from Berlin. Siegen University was also involved in modeling the riverbank and designing the riverbed. The department kept the topic of “river uncovering” constantly under discussion. For the final phase of the project, a 15-metre-long model was used to simulate high and low water scenarios. The Research Institute for Water and the Environment at the University of Siegen developed plans for the reconstruction of a “natural” riverbed.

The result is a lively urban space, both day and night, which benefits the entire city. And the bdla is also enthusiastic. It awarded the 2017 Landscape Architecture Prize to the “Zu neuen Ufern” project. According to the jury, the generous open spaces of the new riverbank design combine the diverse demands of residents for urban living and ‘green’ recreation in direct contact with the element of water.

Anette Kolkau reports on the “Zu neuen Ufern” project in the June 2017 issue of Garten + Landschaft.

Find out more about the Landscape Architecture Prize 2017 here!

21.01.2025

Industry news, Profession

Some things are lost forever

Building design

A view of the upper campus of the University of Cape Town. The 200-year-old Jagger Library is destroyed after the fire. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Adrian Frith

The fire that raged for days on Table Mountain in April 2021 destroyed a lot. The damage is now visible at the University of Cape Town. Very rare historical documents have been burnt The University of Cape Town is located at the foot of Table Mountain. Here, in the Jagger Library, was one of the oldest, if not the oldest collection of books in South Africa. There was an abundance […]

The fire that raged for days on Table Mountain in April 2021 destroyed a lot. The damage is now visible at the University of Cape Town. Very rare historical documents have been burnt

The University of Cape Town is located at the foot of Table Mountain. Here, in the Jagger Library, was one of the oldest, if not the oldest collection of books in South Africa. There was a wealth of unique sources on African history, including rich audio and visual documents from more recent times. The collection of books and periodicals alone was estimated at around 85,000 items, including many prints from before 1925.

But on April 20, 2021, a fire broke out in the attic of the reading room. Everything was in flames. The cause was a bush fire that had been raging since April 18. The library’s reading room and everything inside fell victim to the flames. “There was nothing left but a few charred books,” reports qualified paper conservator Tina Löhr.

Löhr lives and works in Cologne and specializes in rescuing books and documents. Among other things, she was involved in recovering the treasures of the Cologne City Archives, which collapsed in 2009 as a result of building work. On April 20, she learned from the news that – around 10,000 kilometers away from Cologne – one of the most famous and precious libraries on the African continent was on fire. The moment she saw the images of the fire in the media, she knew she had to help. Löhr contacted a colleague.

Twenty years ago, she had completed an internship with Dale Peters, a restorer in the city of Durban in South Africa. She asked if she was needed. Peters’ answer was: yes, absolutely. “You know how few restorers we have.” Five days later, Tina Löhr was in Cape Town. Two hours after her arrival, she was picked up by a colleague. Mary Minicka is also a conservator and also specializes in paper.

“I lent a hand straight away”

Löhr and Minicka were now the only paper restorers on site. “I got straight down to work. Nothing was discussed, no site plan was drawn up. I arrived, was introduced and looked for work,” says Tina Löhr. Experts and volunteers in Cape Town had already been busy with the rescue work for several days at that point, and the processes were well organized. There was a good atmosphere on site, says Löhr. “Everyone was totally committed, everyone showed dedication.”

The extinguishing water ran from the reading room on the first floor into the basement, where the holdings were stored in normal archive shelves or cupboards. Within days it would start to get moldy. So there was an acute need for action. First aid measure for water damage: freezing. “That buys you time,” says Löhr. The university had already set up shipping containers to act as cold storage. “Knowing where you can freeze things is part of every emergency plan in an archive.”

Training for more conservators in South Africa

Particularly valuable items for Löhr were the first historical development plans of Cape Town. She also held an entire suitcase in her hand, completely soaked, in which sketches and drawings by an artist had been stored. She took the most important pieces to the restoration tent, where Minicka set about saving the papers. Colleagues from the United States and the Netherlands provided advice in an online group. After a week, Tina Löhr had to leave again. It will take three to four years to rebuild the collection.

“Of course, it also depends on the capacities. If there is only one restorer there, then it could take six or seven years,” says Löhr. The extinguishing water has damaged many of the books – they now have to dry out and be restored piece by piece. The reconstruction of the archive will be used to train more restorers in South Africa. “This way, something useful can come out of this terrible disaster,” says Mary Minicka.