MVD Austira / frank, rieper
Schauhaus 09

It is a temporary show house, a festival centre in front of the festival centre. Right in front of the Orpheum concert hall in Graz stands a walk-in ensemble of layered functions – like shelves. Open to the outside. A transparent portal, an interface between outside and inside, between neighbours and visitors to the festival, a fluid transition into what lies beyond, and that is thus no longer quite as enclosed. The show house offers access to all kinds of actions, but also to the box office, the information desk, the terrace, the stages, the Club and – last but not least – the sun deck.

After Stephen Craig from Ireland, International Festival (Tor Lindstrand and Mårten Spångberg) from Sweden, and raumlaborberlin, this year’s steirischer herbst festival centre is now being designed by MVD Austria | frank, rieper, who always operate in the realm between architecture, art and design. Their focus on installations and interactions in the public space also underlies their idea for the show house which temporarily conceals the Orpheum behind a public platform for communication and confrontation which continues inside the building.

The steirischer herbst festival centre is all of this and much more: bar, coffee-house, chat-room, club and lounge, information and ticket office, academy, lecture hall, concert hall, Internet café. Artists from around the globe, theorists, journalists and the audience come together, there are parties, discussions, wine ... and if you are not here, then you’re on the sun deck.

Konzept / Idee: Michael Rieper
Konzept / Idee: Irina Koerdt