Kunst und Plattenbausiedlungen

Prefabricated housing estates are a significant part of the architectural and cultural heritage in Europe. Prefabricated construction brought an entirely new philosophy of urban and housing development. The relationship between architecture and art in residential estates, specifically in the prefabricated housing estates of Vienna, which were built in the second half of the 20th century, has never previously been a central issue of national or international discourse regarding architecture and urban development. Between the 1960s and 1980s, several large prefabricated housing estates appeared in Vienna, all of which were adorned with numerous artworks. The artistic interventions in Viennese prefabricated housing estates were done either in the form of mural art on the building itself – design of facades and entrances – or in the form of free-standing artworks – sculptures and fountains. Special attention was also given to the design of children’s playgrounds. Some well-known Austrian artists, for instance Otto Beckmann, Wander Bertoni, Oskar Bottoli, Erna Frank, Alois Heidel, Anton Lehmden, Arnulf Neuwirth and Hans Staudacher, worked in the prefabricated housing estates.
In the history of art and architecture, the topic of “art in Viennese prefabricated housing estates” entails a range of questions that have never been solved in theory or practice. This publication attempts to find a fresh assessment of the relationship between art and architecture in Viennese prefabricated housing estates in a wide context of the urbanistic, social, artistic and ideological issues. The theoretical questions about public art and the art in prefabricated housing estates, the implementation of ideology from the Athens Charter in the after-war housing construction are analysed. Central issues relate to the city of Vienna as a patron, the questions of commissioned works of art for Gemeindebauten, the artists’ ambitions, themes and styles of the artworks, techniques and materials used for art in Viennese prefabricated housing estates and at least the reception of art in the architecture – a qualitative analysis of the residents’ perspectives.