Atelier of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
The studio house of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (formerly Semperdepot , before that kk Hoftheater-Kulissendepot or decorations-depot for the kk Hoftheater ) was built between 1874 and 1877 by the architects Gottfried Semper , after whom it was named, and Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer built and served as a depot and production facility for theater decorations and sets. It is located at Lehargasse 6–8 in Vienna's 6th district, Mariahilf .
history
After the architect Gottfried Semper had built the new royal court theater in Dresden from 1838 to 1841 and, after it burned down, also directed the second building of the Semperoper from 1871 , he came to Vienna to build some buildings here with Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer: u. a. the (not realized in this form) Kaiserforum with Hofburg and Natural and Art History Museum , the Burgtheater and also the Semperdepot. It was built between 1874 and 1877. In its first phase, the building served mainly as a production site and stage depot for theater decorations and sets, especially for the opera and the Burgtheater.
After the theater workshops moved out in 1952, the set depot stood empty for decades, unused, and was threatened with collapse, until the Vienna University of Technology took over the site for expansion. Planning for the construction of new institute buildings already anticipated the demolition of the backdrop depot. The Federal Monuments Office refused a request for demolition with reference to the architectural and historical significance of the property. However, the owner's appeal was granted in the second instance because the fire protection problems were considered unsolvable. The building seemed lost, even though its monument properties had not been fundamentally questioned.
A little later, however, there was a change of opinion, and the faculty of the Technical University unanimously agreed to keep it. The architect Ernst Hiesmayr , then rector of the Vienna University of Technology, played an important role. New possible uses as a studio house, museum or bazaar were discussed and presented in project work and an exhibition. Occasionally, cultural events took place in the set depot. In 1990 the building was handed over to the University of Fine Arts and in 1990 the architect Carl Pruscha began planning the renovation of the Semperdepot. More than 100 years after construction, the renovation work finally began by Bundesimmobilien Ges.mbH under the direction of Univ.Prof. Wolfgang Baatz. As a result, the former court theater set depot bis was adapted and restored for purposes of a studio house. The revitalization was completed in 1995 with an additional space gain of 7,500 square meters .
architecture
The former Kk Hoftheater-Kulissendepot is the only surviving utility building by Gottfried Semper in Vienna and was built in the style of Viennese historicism . The long front on Lehárgasse is designed in neo-renaissance shapes. The use of exposed brick masonry was preferred for the outer skin, whereas the inner framework consists of cast iron lintels and wooden beam ceilings. The architecture of the Semperdepot has some unusual features. The floor plan is drawn by a triangle with the outermost tip cut off at an angle. This strange shape results from the fan-shaped shape of the property. The interior is divided into two sections by a transverse wall with huge doors. The narrow end of the building forms the so-called Prospekthof. This is open over all four floors up to the roof, and on each floor there are all-round galleries, surrounded by the filigree, six-meter-high cast iron columns. The second part is made up of the halls behind the transverse wall. The two hall-like rooms, separated by a further central wall, are traversed by three rows of cast-iron columns, one on top of the other, which form the supporting structure of the ceilings.
During the renovation, half-story lightweight containers were set up along the central wall. a. can serve as sanitary areas as well as a gallery for the students. Two new fire stairs were also added and the work rooms for the teaching staff were placed on all upper floors. As far as possible, the natural patina was left and the facades could also be preserved unaltered.
Todays use
The depot was handed over to the Academy of Fine Arts and is now the academy's atelier. It is also used for special occasions like festivals, theater, operas and exhibitions and also as a meeting room. The Semperdepot was also used as a backdrop for many other events, such as the vocal performances by the BOKU choir or the video shoot for Robbie Williams ' song 'Lovelight' in the great hall during his two concerts in August 2006.
Since 1989, the building in the basement has also housed the Glyptothek of the Academy of Fine Arts, which, with 450 remaining exhibits, represents a high-quality collection and can be viewed in guided tours by appointment.
Plaque
On the outer wall, bullet holes, chipped corners and patina bear witness to the eventful past of the building. Bullet holes have been preserved around a window on the ground floor and a memorial plaque made of Plexiglas is mounted above it . It bears the inscription: WOUNDS OF MEMORY . It was installed in the 1990s as part of the adaptation of the building and as part of a project by Andreas von Weizsäcker and Beate Passow . The holes in the facade are the result of the shelling by the Red Army during the so-called Battle of Vienna in April 1945 - this can be assumed with a probability bordering on certainty.
Awards
literature
- Carl Pruscha (Ed.): The Semper Depot. The adaptation of the Semper'schen scenery depot in Vienna to the studio house of the fine arts. Prestel, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-7913-1597-8 (on the occasion of the handover of the former set depot by the Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Art to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna for the 300th anniversary in 1992 and the subsequent adaptation as a future studio house for the Students of the Academy 1996. With contributions by Werner Oechslin , ... photos by Peter Dressler).
Web links
- Nextroom
- vienna.unlike
- Federal Monuments Office
- European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies
- Architecture center
Individual evidence
- ↑ Albertina
- ↑ a b Federal Monuments Office
- ↑ Wounds of Memory, a European project by Andreas von Weizsäcker and Beate Passow in seven European countries, 1993–1995
- ↑ Eduard Freudmann: “Swastikas? Ornaments! ”As continuity of repression; Historical-political conditions of a public art and educational institution. at European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies (eipcp), 10/2010.
Coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 59.5 " N , 16 ° 21 ′ 43.3" E