INFO:

Located in a park in a densly populated suburban settlement of Vienna, sourrounded by giant tenement blocks dating from the 70ies, the institution “Parkbetreuung” is concerned with kids, who spend their afternoons unattended in the park. A team of pedagogues keeps the kids busy with suggestive activities in and around a wooden barrack, which is used by the institution already for ten years.

In the course of a design-program 24 students of Vienna University of Technology have been designing and building “PARKLIFE”, as a freestanding extension to the existing social facility. PARKLIFE is a useable sculpture and works as a landmark, stage and tribune. Broad stairs form a sheltered, heat-able auditorium, which is used as a room for various activities, from workshops, to concerts, performances and film screenings. The stairs lead up to a cosy alkoven with a big bay-window, facing the sports-field of the park. Underneath the stairs a fully equipped wood-workshop is integrated into the building. With a drawbridge the workshop opens to the affiliated adventure playground, where the kids under supervision of instructors can build simple wooden constructions like huts and raised stands.