IBA Meets Art

Art and housing have long been closely related in Vienna. After all, housing and culture both see themselves as part of a social obligation. When we talk about “art in buildings,” we are talking about more than mere decoration. Whereas art in municipal buildings used to be partly influenced by popular educational impulses, today the urban space has long since been discovered by art production as a stage for dealing with current socio-political issues.

Art plays an active role in the design, perception and appropriation of the city. This often opens up completely new spaces of possibility that go beyond the passive consumption of art. The citizens of the city and the residents of the neighborhood are encouraged to participate through artistic impulses, and participation and social interaction are strengthened.

Temporary or one-time artistic actions with their event character can create identities, generate images of a possible future and tell stories, especially in newly developing neighborhoods. Permanent artistic projects and artists working on site, on the other hand, bring the elementary basic need for culture into the city. From the very beginning, IBA_Vienna has given this cultural commitment a central place with its “IBA Meets Art” format.