Results of the competition Woallewilkommensind announced
Philipp Muerling is a student at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Since 2022, he has been protesting with art actions and calls for greater accessibility at the Academy. While the Schillerplatz location has an accessible entrance on Makartgasse, the main entrance is not designed to be accessible. Philipp Muerling wants to change that.
The competition invited submissions of designs (videos, drawings, sketches) that would make the main entrance at Schillerplatz accessible. The competition was open to everyone, regardless of profession. "How can the main entrance be accessible without creating false attention that stigmatizes visitors?" was the central question.
Five teams responded to the call for proposals. An exhibition of these proposals was held during the academy open days from January 16 to 19, 2025, and each team was invited to present their project to a public audience. The jury met on February 27, 2025 and unanimously decided to select the STUDIO SAUNA team's proposal as the winner.
Studio Sauna’s radical solution dismantles institutional hierarchy by relocating the ornamental classical columns to the current side entrance on Makartgasse. By bringing them down to ground level, the project subverts imperial symbolism and reconfigures the Academy’s spatial order. Their vision is not just about repair but about systemic change. Furthermore, the space heretofore occupied by the ornamental columns is transformed into a first-floor terrace and garden overlooking Schillerplatz. This new terrace is on the same level as the current Mensa and Aula and thus has the potential to transform the first-floor entrance, no longer a place of imposition and passing but a magnificent place of arrival, of encounter and discourse.
The jury unanimously selected Studio Sauna’s proposal "for its bold political statement on democratic access within the Academy’s imperial architecture. Rather than simply removing barriers, the project redefines accessibility by transforming the entrance itself, challenging institutional hierarchies".
An implementation of the proposal is not currently planned. In addition to questions of structural feasibility and monument protection, the problem of financing also remains.
Nevertheless, those involved in Woallewillkommensind are looking forward to further developing the project together. The Academy also welcomes the initiative:
"As an art university, we welcome and encourage our students to address current socio-political issues in their work. This artistic approach is highly suitable for generating awareness of the issue. We have already supported Philipp Muerling's concerns in the past by developing various options and financing models. However, it has become clear that these options are currently not feasible due to the high costs. The broad media attention Philipp Muerling is drawing to this topic makes us optimistic that inclusion and accessibility will be increasingly discussed in public and hopefully implemented much more frequently than before".