Global - Neutral
Description
Global-Neutral embarks on an architectural search for traces in postcolonial contexts. It documents buildings and projects by Austrian architects in African and Asian countries realized between 1955 and 1989-a period of global political upheaval during which numerous states gained independence from European colonial powers and international cooperation was increasingly marked by Cold War tensions. Designs by Djamshid Farassat, Hans Hollein, Shahrzad Seradj-Kraupp, Helene Koller-Buchwieser, Norbert Heltschl, Carl Pruscha, Hannes Lintl, Roland Rainer, and Anton Schweighofer, among others, illustrate transnational dimensions and reveal surprising connections between Austria and the Global South.
In seven chapters, lavishly illustrated with reproductions of plans, images of models, photographs, and other documents from Architekturzentrum Wien's collection, the book guides readers through the complex entanglements of architecture, geopolitics, development cooperation, and transnational knowledge exchange. Scholarly essays and other contributions by international authors expand on historical, political, and cultural contexts and offer local reflections from Nepal, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Abu Dhabi.
More details
Persons
Monika Platzer is a curator and head of collections at Architekturzentrum Wien.
Susanne Rick is a curator at Architekturzentrum Wien and a PhD candidate at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, conducting a research project on the transnational activities of Austrian architects in Asia and Africa between 1955 and 1979.
Architekturzentrum Wien is Austria's museum of architecture and has gained international renown as a public space for exhibiting, discussing, and researching the ways in which architecture and urban development influence and shape our everyday life.