The Wachau Routes project started in July 2022 with a kick-off meeting at the Institute of Landscape Architecture at BOKU. We, that is Iris Andraschek, Daniela Lehner, Hubert Lobnig and Roland Tusch, will investigate the routes through the Wachau in detail over the next four years using arts-based and landscape architecture research methods. The interdisciplinary approach (art, landscape architecture, architecture) allows the traffic routes to be classified in all their complexity within the development process of the designed landscape space. We are looking forward to the next exciting four years!
Research Design Workshop
/in General/by TeamWe worked on the interweaving of the artistic-scientific methods of our team. We discussed the already elaborated groundwork and concretised our questions and methodological approaches. The combination of art and landscape architecture should lead us to new findings.
Camera Shot No. 1
/in General/by Hubert LobnigA camera is screwed onto the roof of the car on a tripod and a turntable. The car moves. The camera moves with it, but also performs a rotating movement.
“All right, I need 20,000 Salix purpurea.”
/in Road Studies/by Daniela LehnerArchitect Herbert Ursprunger was responsible for the landscape design of the Wachaustrasse in the 1950s. We had the opportunity to interview him and learn about the challenges of planting willows (Salix) along the river bank as part of the road construction. In addition to information and anecdotes about the development of the Wachaustrasse, we also heard about his own role, planning principles and design criteria for the roadside revegation planning. We received photos from his private collection, which he took himself during and after the construction work. The interview and photos provide us with important starting points for our road studies.
Road Studies Site-Visit
/in Road Studies/by Roland TuschThe bicycle is the ideal means of transport to investigate on site the integration of the road into the landscape. Cycling from Emmersdorf to Krems we were able to document the interplay of the old and the new Wachau road with the railway line and the cycle path. In St. Michael, the traffic routes merge into a scenic compression between rocks and the Danube, creating a particularly fascinating spot. The exhibition Die Straße am Strom (The Road on the River) at Teisenhofer Hof in Weißenkirchen comprehensively shows the context and the creation of the Wachau Road in the 1950s and provides a valuable background to which our project can connect.
Heritage Science Meeting – Poster
/in General/by TeamUnder the title “Landscape Narratives – documentation of and research on designed landscapes”, the Wachau Routes project was presented on 23 September at the 3rd Heritage Science Austria Meeting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Our poster gave first insights into our research work.
Poster ansehen (in Englisch)
Article in „Die Presse“
/in Media reports/by TeamDie Wachau im Spiegel von Kunst und Landschaftsarchitektur. This was the title of Mariele Schulze Berndt’s article on the Wachau Routes project in Die Presse of 6 August 2022. The article is based on in-depth conversations between the author and Roland Tusch and Hubert Lobnig. An outlook on selected topics that are being worked on in the project.
Read the article (in German)
Initial Site Visit
/in General/by Roland TuschOur initial site visit was accompanied by Rosalinde Kleemaier-Wetl, who is ICOMOS Monitor for the Wachau World Heritage Site. She showed us places where the impact of traffic routes on the cultural landscape is clearly visible. In Spitz we met the World Heritage Manager Ingeborg Hödl and the nature conservation expert Hannes Seehofer in person, two proven experts on the Wachau. Ingeborg Hödl will accompany the project in an advisory position as member of the Advisory Board in the coming years. By visiting Olafur Eliasson’s Camera Obscura on the ferry in Spitz and Gelitin’s Nose in St. Lorenz, we saw two of the most important contemporary artistic works in the Wachau. The exciting insights on our first tour through the Wachau made us curious to understand this landscape in more detail.
Kick-off-Meeting
/in General/by Roland TuschThe Wachau Routes project started in July 2022 with a kick-off meeting at the Institute of Landscape Architecture at BOKU. We, that is Iris Andraschek, Daniela Lehner, Hubert Lobnig and Roland Tusch, will investigate the routes through the Wachau in detail over the next four years using arts-based and landscape architecture research methods. The interdisciplinary approach (art, landscape architecture, architecture) allows the traffic routes to be classified in all their complexity within the development process of the designed landscape space. We are looking forward to the next exciting four years!