In 2024 the Salzkammergut region will be the European Capital of Culture - for the first time, 23 communities in the rural inner Alpine region will join forces to form a cultural capital.

Beyond the much-discussed topic of overtourism, Hallstatt and the Salzkammergut region play a special role in the question of housing needs and living environments of a wide variety of user groups (residents, tourists, students, etc.), which offer novel and innovative perspectives and requires impulses. In addition, parameters such as new working environments, digitalization, mobility issues, dealing with existing buildings/vacancies and the resulting new role of rural areas span a wide range of future questions.

The cooperation between the Research Unit of Housing and Design at the TU Vienna and the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024 makes it possible to make the university discourse visible to the public on site - and thus to stimulate dialogue on a broad level. The four program lines of the Capital of Culture also represent essential starting points in terms of content: Power and Tradition / Culture in Flow / Sharing Salzkammergut - the Art of Travel / Globalokal - Building the New.

Task

After the focused examination of the town of Hallstatt and the Salzkammergut region in the last few semesters, a hybrid exhibition and dialogue format is now to be developed as part of the cooperation project with the Capital of Culture Salzkammergut 2024 for the Hallstatt Denkwerkstatt 2024, which will bring this intensive, multi-year process to the outside world in a way that will be effective for the public. The examination of the available locations in Hallstatt, the viewing and selection of existing and newly developed content as well as their creative and programmatic implementation play an important role. The process includes different stages - from a research phase and keynote speeches as well as (individual) trips of discovery on site to the selection of content of student work and relevant topics/issues as well as the design and implementation of spatial interventions and dialogue formats with visitors or invited impulse givers.

The Hallstatt train station, with its special location and architecture as a highly frequented transit point, as well as (workshop) rooms of the HTBLA Hallstatt are expected to be available as locations for the project.

Structure / Mode

The project is developed collaboratively in a large team, with different focuses (e.g. graphics, content conception, organization, etc.) and certain work steps are sometimes carried out in small groups. Communication and organization within the team as well as the actual realization of one's own ideas and concepts on site in Hallstatt while adhering to the available budgetary resources are further essential criteria.

The design studio "Hallstatt_Denkwerkstatt 2024" follows on from the previous bachelor's and master's design studios, which dealt with the areas of tension between the global phenomenon of overtourism and living in the local and regional context as well as the handling of existing buildings/vacancies and their possibilities for transformation.

Overall format

The designs, workshops and on-site events as well as an accompanying publication format are parts of the applied research project “Living in Extremis: Hallstatt – Salzkammergut 2024”, which has been running since 2020, which includes focuses on research and teaching and in close cooperation with the European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024 and the municipality of Hallstatt will deepen questions and studies on the topic. The dialogue with the above-mentioned partners and the presentation of the results on site are further important components of this format.