In what is also known as 'the Inflatable Era', inflatable architecture was manufactured as a prerequisite for a new, nomadic way of life. Space travel served as the inspiration for these capsules. However, are these high-tech hide-outs post-human or not?
This text by Bart Lootsma was originally published in the accompanying catalog of the exhibition. You can find the full catalog here. In the 1960s, the body became the starting point for a radical rethinking of architecture, design, fashion and art. The boundaries between those disciplines increasingly disappeared.
Exploring and breaking social norms around sexuality and identity is central to much of the work from this period. This research often uses new technological developments in the field of both material and media (such as glasses and helmets).
However, the architects of this period, being mostly male, often get stuck in their own sexual fantasies. Not until VALIE EXPORT, now celebrated as one of the most important feminist artists, does this change. Some of her earliest projects can be seen as a direct criticism of the work of her male colleagues.
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“A little world in which the big one holds its tryouts”, is how guest curator and professor Bart Lootsma describes the development of Austrian avant-garde movements in the 20th century. In this lecture series, Lootsma places the so-called ‘Radical Austria’ of the 1960s in the context of...
The need for radical change manifested itself in post-war Austria in a series of megalomanic urban designs. These projects share an obsession with technology and infrastructure and a drive to create completely new ways of living together.
Visiting the exhibition, you will receive the accompanying catalog. It documents both the technical information of all exhibited works, as well as substantive texts to contextualize important makers and themes. You can find the...