The new Austrian Standard for barrier-free building, B 1600, issue 2011-04-01, contains rigorous requirements as regards protection against impact for full-height glass doors and areas of glazing that can be approached from two sides. The standard calls for a strong contrast between light and dark and an even, dense coating of the glass at a certain height. In addition to this requirement an old person’s home and nursing home of this size with its different services and user groups requires a system of routes that is as self-explanatory as possible. The concept for the signage for the Antoniushaus is based on connecting what the regulations call for with something useful. In concrete terms this means breaking up the transparency of the glass surfaces by using typographical patterns, which at the same time communicate useful information that helps people find their way around this senior citizen’s residence and nursing home. The typography, individually adapted to the specific situation, covers the areas of glazing in the stipulated manner. The texts are stuck on to one side using a special black and white film. The legible texts always appear in white, whereas the back-to-front texts are black (and are legible as white texts from the other side). Through precise detailing it proved possible to meet the demands in terms of design, effective visual screening and an easily visible and legible guidance system. The core facility in this building is “sheltered housing” with a total of 60 new dwelling units. The labelling or identification of these units was also carefully considered. The numbering of the rooms makes use of raised numerals fixed to the frame of the entrance door. Beside the number is a delicate shelf in the same kind of wood (ash) with an inserted name plate that can be easily exchanged. Something can be placed on this shelf or hung from it. This invites people to design their own “house entrance” within an ordered system, offers information that promotes a sense of identification with the facility, and shows empathy for the people who live here and their guests.

Together with architect Helmut Kuess and building on the basis of workshops held with public relations staff from the various local communities Reinhard Gassner developed the idea for the Panorahmen. The name is a word play based on panorama and Rahmen, the German word for frame. Panorahmen are striking steel frames with viewing windows which have been erected at 34 locations in the various Rhine Valley communities. They offer a view of public squares, buildings and landscapes where vision rheintal (vision rhine valley) takes place or intended to take place. The architects Geli Salzmann and Eva Lingg finalised the design.

Falva is an inn located in Blons, a mountain village in a valley known as the Großes Walsertal. This deeply incised valley is characterized by precipitous mountain slopes on both sides. Ultimately, it was this image that provided the inspiration for the visual design. The letter “l” was inclined at a slight angle and, together with the letter “v” that follows it, suggests the shape of a mountain peak.

»Konstruktive Provokation« (Constructive Provocation) attempts to explain the density of contemporary architecture in Vorarlberg (clearly evident in the immediate surroundings) within the framework of an exhibition and explores frequently asked questions such as »how is that possible?« It describes architecture not as an extract but as a part of a living culture of building in its technical, design-related, social, ecological, hand-craft and personal aspects. Instead of emphasising the works of individual architects and explaining single buildings by means of models and plans, the exhibition tells about the roots and the growth of a broad-based movement that allowed architecture of a high quality to develop. »From rumour to myth: That’s how you could describe the last decades of Vorarlberg architecture.« Dietmar Steiner The exhibition consists of a series of theme-related introductory portals. Various levels of reading allow the visitor to proceed from a general insight to in-depth immersion in the theme. The first level shows photographs by Ignacio Martínez on the fronts of the cubes; short texts augment and explain what is shown. In a second level drawers that can be pulled open and wall elements offer insight into further details and architectures relating to the respective materials.

“überholz” is the name of a new course in timber building at the University of Art and Design in Linz Names such as “the art of timber building” or “timber construction”, or poetic terms such as “Dickicht” (thicket) or “Stirnholz” (end grain wood) were some more obvious choices. The reduction to simple familiar words is surprising; the problems with the umlaut become the characteristic. The word “über” (about, through) suggests the transfer of knowledge and “holz” (wood) is simply called by its name. Aspects of architecture and planning are communicated by the typographical implementation. Here we are familiar with the word “Holz”, but what does it say to an Italian public? The Italian partners assured us that the target group in Italy is also familiar with the term “Holz”. It is hard to pronounce – a tongue-twister and a foreign word – but precisely on this account is suitable for the “corsi” (timber building seminars) of the Italian proHolz subsidiary organisation, “promo legno”.

A monochrome logotype: the word “Lehm” is set in the Grotesque font, Trade Gothic bold condensed, whereas the “o” is in an Antiqua (font type: New York). The Antiqua makes the “o” resonate and creates exciting contrasts between traditional and modern, filigree and stable. Reinhard Gassner

The former “Architekturforum Tirol” opened its new rooms in 2005 in the renovated brewhouse of the old Adambräu brewery in Innsbruck. This was linked with a call for a contemporary appearance. In a workshop together with Walter Bohatsch a name was arrived at. The new name for this association was “aut“ and was intended to hover freely, almost experimentally, in space without any associations such as institute, gallery or forum – on the contrary it was to be provocative and agitative and not an abbreviation with just three letters. In the initial phase the name was supported by a claim. The most interesting thing happens in-between, as it were, between the familiar term “out”, which of course starts not with an “a” but an “o”, and the simple way in which the sequence of letters can be explained by three words. Lettering + subline »architektur und tirol«.

The task was to design a name and appearance for a software company. The company’s dual track character is programmatic: on the one hand it offers high-tech content management systems and on the other creative, but standardised, software solutions. In a workshop with the client it was decided to use a freely invented onomatopoeic name. The solution consisted of two letters, actually just one form of letter that stands alternately on its feet or on its head – nu – n and u, not u and n, which would have had a far more negative connotation; the dynamics and the combined effect of the letters harbours numerous meanings, nu functions like a kind of acoustic pictogram, which is due to the familiar and yet at the same time unfamiliar quality of this name. It is too short to be abbreviated, it awakens curiosity and relates to the number two. This association is played with visually with by swivelling the letters in the logotype and in other applications – 2 colours with 2 x 2 letters that, when overlaid, produce new forms and colours.

The name zuschnitt stands for a magazine about wood as a material and works made of wood. It is aimed primarily at architects, people interested in building and those who make decisions about building in Austria and neighbouring countries. The title avoids words such as “wood”, “building” or “architecture”. Nevertheless it reports about wood, processing, series, the made-to-measure form. The language elements are the acceleration of the word at the beginning due to the “Z”, and the two terminating consonants at the end of the word. Consequently the middle part works as a resonance space for the two vowels, “u” and “i”.

It seems that for my generation religion is no longer relevant. It is curious, however, that, by taking various detours, the world of religious images appears to return to us in the areas of commerce and consumption. This is an interesting phenomenon. For me the quintessence of a religious conceptual world is paradise. In paradise things happen that we cannot see or prove and a considerable amount of pathos is attached to everything paradisiacal. This pathos is also found in ritual, in the architecture of religion and in the image of God. The priest’s vestments, the politician’s clothing, the chambers of bishops and presidents, the palaces of popes and bosses are always exaggeratedly beautiful and always symbolize the same: glitter and glory. I am interested in the kinds of visual means and values that are used to convey ownership, wealth, power and glory. The signs and the symbols of the church have a real effect on us; they direct our feelings and move us towards devotion or rejection. I often experience a feeling of awe or reverence when I enter a church. A beautiful cultural building or a proud government building also convey something sublime. Looked at more closely both of these are visual languages, one is the language of religion, the other of capital; they are similar to each other and yet different. They influence us in a way that we generally do not consciously grasp. In my research I discovered many similarities in the way the divine and wealth are represented. The church and capital often work with the same means – the holy is commercialised and the market is deified. Christ’s efforts to drive the money-changers out of the table were in vain. Religion employs the means of marketing and advertising. And vice-versa: advertising makes use of religious images and also promises salvation and ecstasy. My work led me to reflect further about the theme of religion and money. Religion gives my life a transcendental dimension – a kind of dream world which is in an open relationship to the idea of God. I discovered a number of differences between the conceptual world of the divine that exists here in Holland and the one I am familiar with. Exploring these in depth is work for an academic, not for a visual designer. For my theme the following aspect seems important: the idea of God here in Holland is shaped by the Reformation and Calvinism and produces a more rational, flatter and more text oriented image – as a result the aspect of mystery is reduced or even eliminated. In contrast the Austrian conceptual world of the divine is influenced by the Counter-Reformation and the Baroque. This produced an absolute world, a sublime image of God – God is above everything. The goal of the project Using a number of short illustrated stories my aim is to show a number of relationships between religious and material values. The intention is to question the self-evident nature of certain visual values, schemes and concepts. Separation and connection of two languages Otl Aicher writes about the connection of religious and profane images: because Latin, the international language of the church, could not be understood by lay Europeans, religious truths were explained to them through iconographically standardised images. However, a radical increase in density and a simplification of the iconographic depictions that made them into pictograms emerged only at the start of the 20th century. At that time religious visual language communicated the global language of the Christian world; today it is pictograms, signs and symbols that direct and shape us. In my visual work I attempt to relate these two languages to each other. The aim is to bring about a direct encounter between images of religion and images of the present-day world. One characteristic of religions is their strongly spiritual conceptual world made up of ideas, images and regulations on the ways in which these should be used. I wish to connect these images with the pictogram language of today. This is an encounter between very different but equally striking signs and symbols. I began my research playfully and semiotically. I transformed various symbols and their values with regard to the themes of money and religion. I tried to contrast the visual worlds of religion and of money with each other. I visited two casinos and two churches, interviewed representatives of each and compared the impressions and statements in the context of my theme. After this I looked for a place where both worlds are connected. I visited an exhibition where you could admire and buy all imaginable kinds of religious products. I felt there how strongly commercialized religion is. This experience and my research work on religious catalogues in the Internet led me to reflect on the values of religion and ultimately brought me to the contents of my graduation thesis. Conclusion God is dead, the glitter and glory continue, but other showplaces. The “corporate design” of God changes its medium and is now used to clothe a commercial, materialistic world. Consumption does not fill the gaps and the emptiness. Personal details · motivation I grew up in a family of designers in Vorarlberg in western Austria. Today I know that living in a beautiful green setting surrounded by mountains strongly influenced me. As a child fantasy and dreams played an important role. My father often took me with him to his graphic design studio where I spent the time painting. At the age of fifteen I decided to attend the Schule für Gestaltung in St. Gallen (CH). During the five years of study I became familiar with the “Swiss Style” of design. Design in Switzerland is reduced and precise. I found Dutch design in contrast somewhat more open and free. This contrast also gave me a reason to further develop my design work and thinking in Holland. I sought a certain distance from my family so that I could develop and foster my own identity. Here in Holland I changed the way I looked at my home. © Andrea Redolfi