“Vienna. The Pearl of the Reich. Planning for Hitlerˮ architecture exhibition

March 19 - August 17, 2015 Architekturzentrum, Wien

At the Vienna Center for Architecture in Vienna's Museumsquartier, an exhibition has opened that is highly provocative in its title and programmatic ambitions: Designing for Hitler "Vienna. The Pearl of the Crown" (originally "Wien. Die Perle des Reiches" Planen für Hitler). The exhibition curators are Ingrid Holzschuh and Monika Platzer.

The exhibition is dedicated to the construction of Vienna under National Socialism. Using Vienna as an example, urban conception and design in the Third Reich are presented for the first time in this format, which allows buildings to be analyzed and explained in the context of Nazi aims. The myth that has circulated for decades that Vienna played little or no role in the urban planning of the Third Reich will also be explored in the exhibition.

With the creation of Greater Vienna (Groß-Wien), the city became the second largest in the Reich after Berlin. Urban planning recommendations were formulated and Vienna's geopolitical role in the new state structure was defined. A wide variety of plans were then drawn up, ranging from monumental urban neighborhood projects to individual buildings. Concepts of infrastructure, industry and development pointed to Vienna as a hub and transit space to and from south-eastern Europe. Architecture was instrumentalized for the aggressive expansionist policy of the Nazi regime, urban and territorial planning became powerful weapons for the National Socialist population policy.

The exhibition's discourse is supported by vintage photographs, documents and architectural or urban planning plans. As an AzW tradition, the exhibition will host associated events during the opening period: the symposium "View of Vienna under National Socialism", April 11, 2015, and the guided tours "'Schieß-Dome' for Vienna, the Fire Tower in Esterhazypark", April 12, 2015, and "Symbols of Power: Nazi Plans for the Viennese Ring", June 14, 2015. The exhibition has a catalog produced by the curators and published by Park Books, Zürich, ISBN 978-3-906027-78-4.

More info: http://www.azw.at/