Viennese Model Rooms - Can art create a livable space?
30. September 2009, 08:13:33 unter: Austria, Belvedere, English, Exhibitions, German, Interviews, Museums, Podcasts, Video, ViennaIn the last few years, the boundaries between interior decoration, art, and design have begun to blur. Within this trend, each discipline contributes its own unique qualities. This direction has resulted in a combination of presenting individual artistic vision and adjusting to the demands of the market. One can describe this phenomenon as a kind of product-building exchange between the senders and the recipients - for which, in our case, the model rooms serve as the means of communication.
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The history of Viennese model rooms goes back several centuries. The beginnings of example-setting ideal spaces were already emerging in the second half of the seventeenth century. The first attempts focused on the careful selection of materials, then furnishings were added gradually, such as furniture and lighting. Industrial development, economic progress, and improved quality of living cleared the way for individual expression. At this point, not only could wardrobe demonstrate social status and taste, living spaces also emerged as a means of expression and distinction. The demand for creative guidance towards this purpose rose and was promptly met. In the nineteenth century, furniture and exhibition catalogs were already providing advice on the development of style. It was in this period that the term “model room” came into being.
The path towards the model room was paved with the interactions of various disciplines. The work of the architect became art work, an artist would take on the role of a designer, whereby his/her work became a matter of everyday culture. With the exhibition, “Viennese Model Rooms”, the Belvedere takes on the concept of ‘applied art based on contemporary ideas’ – founded by Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, and the Wiener Werkstätte – and, under the curatorial direction of MuMoK director Edelbert Köb, looks into the transferability of this artistic approach into the present.
Gilbert Bretterbauer, Peter Kogler, Florian Pumhösl, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Lisa Ruyter, and Esther Stocker, as well as the companies Backhausen, Wittmann, and Zumtobel, have taken on this task. Six individual contemporary model rooms were developed by the artists, negotiating artistic vision and market demand. They are on display at the Orangerie, Lower Belvedere until January 24th, 2010.
