Panel discussion: The School on Kinkplatz

A never-ending story?

There has been a hefty battle going on for years around the school completed by Helmut Richter in 1994 — which is an achitectural icon of the highest calibre. Should it be fully renovated, or demolished? Are there other options? And what is the prevailing general attitude towards experimental buildings from the 1980s and 1990s?

Ask anybody, everybody has an opinion about this school. When the school closed down in 2017, demolishing the building would not just have been a catastrophe from a perspective of architecture history, it would also have made little sense, either, for environmental reasons. Nevertheless, the question of its subsequent use still remains unresolved. While this tug-o-war continues, the building — which has long been included in the international canon — is left to rot. On this evening at the Az W, numerous architectural institutions come together to find solutions. In an open format, not only are the panel of prominent guests holding a discussion, other key players from architecture and politics will contribute from the audience — as will, hopefully, all of
you!

A cooperation by the Az W with IG Architektur, ÖGFA, Sektion ArchitektInnen der Kammer der ZiviltechnikerInnen (WNB), TU Wien, ZV der ArchitektInnen (WNB)

Welcome address:
Angelika Fitz, director of the Az W, Maria Auböck, ZV, Andreas Vass, ÖGFA

Brief statements:
Silja Tillner, architect
Johannes Zeininger, IG Architektur
Nott Caviezel, Prof. TU Wien, retired
Wolf D. Prix, Coop Himmelb(l)au

Panel guests:
Bernhard Jarolim, Stadtbaudirektor Wien
Selma Arapović, Wiener Landtagsabgeordnete und Gemeinderätin
Hemma Fasch, architect
Wolf D. Prix, Coop Himmelb(l)au
Nott Caviezel, Prof. TU Wien, retired

Moderated by Angelika Fitz, director of the Az W