A Series of Discussions about Young Austrian Architecture
The City Museum of Ljubljana, Gosposka 15, Ljubljana
Thursday, 25th January, and Friday, 2nd February, 2007, 6 pmIn spring 2006, in the context of “auszeit – hanns-koren-bedenkjahr 2006”, ZV Steiermark and Haus der Architektur held SLO } { discussions: a series of discussions about young Slovenian architecture. Now, the series will be mirrored: AUT } { discussions, carried out in co-operation with Ljubljana-based architecture firm Monochrome architects, will present young Austrian architects to the Slovenian public in two evenings. At the same time, together with internationally renowned architectural critics, Slovenian architects and the public, current themes and issues in architecture will be discussed: social architecture, utopia and capital, identity, local innovation and global trends will be up for debate. The aim is to continue to intensify the exchange resulting from the discussion series SLO } { discussions between Austrian and Slovenian creators of architecture.
TOPICS
Thursday, 25th January, 2007, 6 pm
UTOPIA & CAPITAL: How to escape the clichés of globalisation?
Utopia – a central idea in 20th century Austrian architecture. The visions of the 1960s by Haus-Rucker-Co, Günther Domenig, Hans Hollein and Coop Himmelb(l)au became an emblem for the radical desire to break with social conventions and to establish new standards of value. The expressive architecture which this period brought about – keyword: deconstructivism – still exercises a powerful influence on the young generation of Austrian architects today. At the same time, expressive architecture has fully established itself in society: companies on the global stage or the nouveau riche are less interested in the revolutionary thoughts and social ideas of architecture than in its pure formal power of expression. Many architects of the 1960s are today successful enterprises. But was the idea of utopia hijacked by capitalist lobbies? And what strategies are being embraced by the young successors of the 1960s generation to meet this situation?
Talks:
Delugan Meissl Associated Architects [architects, AUT], the next ENTERprise [architects, AUT], Thomas Pucher [architect, AUT]. Presenter: Špela Hudnik [Monochrome Architects, SLO]
Discussion:
Delugan Meissl Associated Architects [architects, AUT], the next ENTERprise [architects, AUT], Thomas Pucher [architect, AUT]. Presenter: Roemer van Toorn [architecture critic, NL]
Friday, 2nd February, 2007, 6 pm
MADE IN AUSTRIA: Copy or Innovation?
There’s no doubt that architecture from Austria has a powerful influence also on current architectural production in Slovenia. But at the same time, Austrian architecture, and in particular the younger generation of Austrian architects, is strongly embedded in global trends. Whereas architecture from Vorarlberg can still be understood as a local building tradition, international tendencies from Holland, Great Britain and USA are more present in Vienna or Graz. Are these still independent architectural discoveries or just copies? And who can judge? Or is it from the point of view of architecture as a global phenomenon just not appropriate to talk of an Austrian architecture?
Talks:
raumhochrosen [architects, AUT], (recalled: Marte.Marte Architekten), querkraft [architects, AUT], SPLITTERWERK [architects, AUT]. Presenter: Špela Hudnik [Monochrome Architects, SLO]
Discussion:
Marte.Marte Architekten [architects, AUT], querkraft [architects, AUT],
SPLITTERWERK [architects, AUT], Bevk Perović arhitekti [architects, SLO], Dekleva Gregorič arhitekti [architects, SLO]. Presenter: Roemer van Toorn [architecture critic, NL/AUT]
Conception and organisation: Central Union of Austrian Architects – Styria, MONOCHROME ARCHITECTS. Carried out in co-operation with the City Museum of Ljubljana. Media partner: www.trajekt.org, www.gat.st
Translation: Y´Plus
