Austria 2016

“Places for People”

Offering protection, shaping humane places to live and establishing the basis for good social coexistence have always been amongst the central roles of architecture and design. Another key responsibility is the opening up of the public realm and the creation of urban structures whose versatility guarantees that public participation in cultural life is as broadly based as possible. Set against the background of the current movement of refugees towards Europe, three Austrian teams of architects and designers, Caramel, EOOS and the next ENTERprise architects, were commissioned to adapt three contrasting locations in Vienna in order to create places combining optimal levels of privacy with an atmosphere conducive to communication. While the immediate objective of “Places for People” is the speedy improvement of living conditions in concrete locations, the initiative poses questions of more general relevance. These include how we want to live together in future, how our cities, homes and public spaces should be designed and used and, last but not least, how architecture can continue to meet its social responsibilities and remain socially relevant. The ideas, concepts and concrete measures which – in less than six months – have been developed and, in part, already implemented in cooperation with Caritas Österreich offer exemplary answers to these questions. The Austrian Pavilion presents the development and participants in these three initiatives as well as the broader context in which they are unfolding.

Exhibitors: Caramel architects, EOOS, the next ENTERprise architects