Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (KÖR)
Open Call for ‘The Weather of Tomorrow’, Projects on Climate in and for Floridsdorf
KÖR – Kunst im öffentlichen Raum is inviting artists, architects, urban designers, landscape architects, cultural creatives and initiatives as well as interested local residents and groups to propose projects addressing the subject of ‘The Weather of Tomorrow’ in Vienna’s Floridsdorf district centre (Austria). The call for proposals is for local and domestic as well as international participants.
Climate change has come to be felt strongly in Vienna as well. For example, the annual mean temperature has gone up by two degrees Celsius over the past four decades. Heat waves, strong rains, and droughts have become far more frequent. Studies predict another temperature rise of up to four degrees Celsius by 2100 as well as a particularly pronounced increase of days with temperatures over thirty degrees Celsius.
The district of Floridsdorf has a very high percentage of green areas, but streets in the district centre in part are densely built-up areas, and surfaces are sealed. A high degree of surface sealing causes quicker runoff of rainwater and reduces evaporative cooling.
However, climate change not only affects the weather but also the social climate. And not everyone is affected equally by the changes but mostly those living in small apartments with no private outdoor space. Outdoor spaces are becoming ever more important as global warming proceeds: they serve as an extension of the home, as free spaces that offer protection from the heat and also provide recreation in winter. In short, what is needed is access to attractive public spaces with no obligation to consume.
This approach provides the impulse as well as the starting point of this call for proposals. It includes artistic proposals, concepts, initiatives, ideas, and projects for the use of urban outdoor spaces that may be implemented as temporary projects.
The call has the objective of stimulating, emphasising, and improving the use of public spaces, of squares and streets in the Floridsdorf district centre throughout the year, in summer and winter.
The ideas and projects proposed are supposed to explore the effects of the climate crisis, take up experiences with the pandemic, and address the new importance of public space. Cramped living conditions, lacking private outdoor spaces, as well as different generational wants and needs are also to be considered.
The maximum running time for temporary projects is twelve months, and all projects selected will be implemented in 2022. The budget for the programme is €450,000, with maximum project funding of € 150,000.
