The focus of the article entitled “Agency for Better Living” is the future of living. “We want to examine two different strands,” says Sabine Pallak, who heads the “Space and Design Strategies” department at the Linz University of Art. “We want to contrast social housing in Vienna with self-organized housing in Rome.” This compares a top-down model (social housing) and a bottom-up model (the self-organization models in Rome).
The trio convinced the jury with their application and prevailed once morest 27 other candidates, as State Secretary for Culture Andrea Mayer (Greens) announced on Wednesday. Pollak, Romito and Obrist will now design the Austrian pavilion for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. The Roman Lorenzo Romito also teaches at the Department of Space and Design Strategies at the Art University, and Michael Obrist teaches at the Vienna University of Technology. All three are architects and experts in residential construction; Obrist and Pollak also run architectural offices. “We are convinced that something new is needed for residential construction,” says Pollak. There is good, affordable housing in Austria: “In Italy the pressure is even greater.” This is why many self-organized models have emerged, especially in Rome, such as the “Spin Time” project: “There, 400 people live and work in a former, long-vacant office building.”
Image: Agency for Better Living (Sabine Pollak, Lorenzo Romito, Michael Obrist)
According to Pollak, work for the biennale will begin immediately. A work plan will be drawn up and the research tasks will be distributed: “Time is of the essence.” Films will also be made to present projects. They will be shown in the pavilion. The facade of the pavilion will be decorated with a moving element; the individual rooms will be designed as living spaces, such as a kitchen or living room. The team has a total of 600,000 euros at its disposal.
This is the second Biennale success for the Linz Art University. At this year’s Art Biennale, artist and art university professor Anna Jermolaewa will curate the Austrian contribution together with Gabriele Spindler from Landes-Kultur-GmbH.
Author
Herbert Schorn
Editor culture and life
Herbert Schorn
