Architekturzentrum Wien  
 

 
 
The Atlantic Wall
Cast Concrete Insanity – 12,000 German bunkers along the coast

Location: Architekturzentrum Wien – Hall F3
Exhibition: 14 September 2006 - 09 October 2006
Opening Hours: Daily 10:00 am - 7:00 pm, Wed until 9:00
Opening: Wednesday 13 September 2006, 7pm
Tickets: Admission free!

Opening:
  • Dietmar Steiner, Director Az W
  • Lorenzo Bini, studiometrico, Milano
  • Klaus Steiner, Urban Planner

    In the years from 1942–1944 the German military erected a gigantic defensive wall along the Atlantic coast, running from France to Norway. The project swallowed up enormous quantities of resources, and vast numbers of labourers were forced to work on the construction. The coastline was divided into sectors with the varying requirements for fortification calculated according to the level of the perceived threat. The length planned with the highest density was the north coast of France, where eleven complexes per kilometre were envisaged.

    The exhibition runs at the Az W from 13.09–9.10.2006. It was compiled by the DPA-Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with institutions in France and Belgium, and documents the various types of building for the first time on the basis of old plans and photographs. A walk-in plan of the coastline with all of the bunker complexes shows the full scale of the project. The completed buildings still dominate long stretches of the Atlantic coast and show a broad diversity of architectural approaches ranging from the astonishingly well thought-through in form and function to the simple and rather clumsy.

    They are, though, all the conspicuous legacy of Nazi Germany's attempt to force its authority over a space and the society within it. A position must be taken regarding the buildings, and they provide fuel for discussion.

    The show is supplemented by a series of photographs of the complexes by Guido Guidi – traces of a Nazi variation of the Fortress Europe.

    An Exhibition of DPA-Sezione di Museografia, Politecnico di Milano in cooperation with GRAI, Ecole d’Architecture de Versailles and Raymond Lemarie ICC, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven

    Curator: Gennaro Postiglione, DPA-Politecnico di Milano
    Exhibition design: studiometrico/Lorenzo Bini, Gennaro Postiglione, Giulio Padovani

    With the kind support of the EU programme „Culture 2000“, Directorate General, Education and Culture


    ADDITIONAL EVENTS
    Symposium:
    Heritage rejected. Austria and Nazi Architecture
    Fri, 15.09.06 - Sat, 16.09.06 / Az W Podium
    Admission free!

    Excursion
    sundays 177. vienna nazi walls
    Sun, 17.09.06 / Venue 1:45 pm at the Az W-Shop
    Sold Out!

    subject to alterations


  • © Guido Guidi 

    Current
    Preview
    Permanent Exhibition

    The Atlantic Wall

    Press Release:
    Nazi Focus at the Architekturzentrum Wien


    Gallery:
    Images for the Press The Atlantic Wall

    The Exhibition


    Links:
    The Atlantic Wall


    Information:
    Sonja Pisarik
    Tel.: +43 (1) 522 31 15 - 26
    Fax: +43 (1) 522 31 17
    Email: pisarik@azw.at

     
     
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