1st PRIZE_INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE COMPETITION
The WIENCALL competition organized by Start for Talents, sought to imagine a new Contemporary Art School through an architecture that could be a container of the avant-garde style of the city of Vienna. The program consisted of various workshops: architecture, painting and photography, exhibition space, restaurant, library, administrative and service areas.
The project takes place in Am Hof Square, one of the most emblematic historical squares in the city of Vienna. There have been important events throughout the history of the city. It is located in the old town between Bognergasse, Heidenschuss, Schulhof, Drahtgasse and Färbergasse streets, and connects to two important public spaces of the city: the Judenplatz (the Jewish Square) and the Austriabrunnen (the fountain of Austria).
RISS, the new Contemporary Art School arises not only from the result of the analysis of the distribution of spaces requested by the programme, but also from the analysis of the current situation of the context in which the project was located, which, despite the importance of this plaza, it reflects the opposite with an urban degraded image mainly by the presence of cars and parking space that border the square and is the main barrier between the connection of the citizens with this public space.
The name of the proposal RISS -which in German means crack- is the visual representation of the main gesture of the building, a crack that allows people to pass through it.
One of the most important element for us was to incorporated the Mariensäule (or Marian column) to the new building and use it as the central axis of the project. We want create a visual connection between the Wohnhaus and the Bank Uni-Credit through the square and the new building.
The façade facing the Wohnhaus (north facade) opens towards the Drahtgasse Street and Farbergasse, inviting people to enter through the axis to meet the Mariensäule.
With this two gestures we define the project in terms of its morphology.
The way in which we developed the program gives a glimpse of the importance we gave to the new plaza removing most of the street parking spaces and managing to connect in all four directions -north, south, east, west- the Am Hof square with the historic buildings that surround it.
The landscaping plays a major role, we include magnolia and maple trees, which will make the pedestrian rout a much more pleasant space to walk and stay.
Finally we introduce a wet plaza in front of the Mariensäule, as an historic call, since years ago there was a fountain at this point we thought it was convenient to recover this element from the memory of the citizens.
For more information: https://startfortalents.net/results-wiencall/
