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Annual Press Conference 2013 20 YEARS OF THE Az W ARE NOT ENOUGH! The Architekturzentrum Wien turns 20! There is good reason to celebrate, as in the past two decades the Az W has secured a name for itself both nationally and internationally as an important competence centre for modern and contemporary architecture. We celebrate the fact that the Az W exists in the first place and, hopefully, will continue to exist for a long time to come. When it was founded back in 1993 the Az W set itself the following goals: presenting, discussing, publishing and archiving architecture. Whereas in the early years the presentation and explanation of architecture was the main focus of activities, today the Az W concentrates also on all the functions of a classic museum: collecting, preserving, and researching. As the only such institution in Austria the Architekturzentrum Wien devotes itself to the intensive processing and preservation of the architectural history of modernism in this country and also serves as an international contact point and interface. A major goal of the Az W is to strengthen public awareness of the need to preserve this cultural legacy. After all, architecture – the design of our environment – influences all areas of life and lastingly shapes our society. As regards the numbers of visitors, media reports and productivity 2012 was a particularly successful year for the Architekturzentrum Wien. In comparison to the previous year the number of visitors increased by around 14%. A total of 9 exhibitions (3 of which went abroad as travelling exhibitions), 24 events of different kinds, around 440 workshops for children, young people and adults and 95 architecture tours were conceived, organized, and curated. Sadly however, the anniversary year is overshadowed by the precarious budgetary situation of the Az W. In the present financial and spatial situation the Az W has over the years repeatedly arrived at its limits, as neither the city (since 2001) or the federal state (since 1995) have increased their subsidies or adjusted them to match the rate of inflation. This represents a real annual loss of around 552.465 €. As a result the constantly growing interest in making bequests and leaving legacies and the increasing need for research into the collections, for educational work and information cannot be met without a clear increase in funding. The Architekturzentrum Wien is forced to further reduce its programme, destroy successfully established structures and know-how and to reduce staff numbers. An idea of how truly drastic the financial situation actually is can be gained from the fact that we can only make one in-house exhibition per year and for the rest of the time the ‘Alte Halle’ must be rented out commercially. "We are departing increasingly from the international discourse", Director Dietmar Steiner warns of the impact of current cutbacks on research, event organisation and holding exhibitions. Form your own picture and help us to draw the attention of the public and politicians to our plight! |
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Press page Current events Past events Dates: 20 Years of Architekturzentrum Wien Are Not Enough! Downloads: PRESS RELEASE: Annual Press Conference 2013 Information: Ines Purtauf Tel.: +43 (1) 522 31 15 - 25 Fax: +43 (1) 522 31 17 Email: purtauf@azw.at |
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