Former school on Kinkplatz, School building in Penzing, Vienna, Austria
The former school on Kinkplatz was built in 1992–1994 to plans by Helmut Richter. Two wedge-shaped glass volumes with an 18-metre steel span house the entrance and gymnasium, their bluish glazing recalling dragonfly wings. Three concrete-framed classroom wings with aluminium sliding windows extend north, and glass-clad escape stairs close each wing.
Built between 1992 and 1994 to plans by Helmut Richter, the school received the Austrian Bauherrenpreis in 1995. It closed in 2017 when a temporary replacement opened on nearby Torricelligasse; in June 2019 Vienna decided not to continue it as a school, citing renovation costs of 55 million euros. The building is now listed as a protected monument.
The building appeared as the "Amt für Parkraumbewirtschaftung" in two 2001 episodes of the ORF series MA 2412, "Parkpickerl 1" and "Parkpickerl 2"; in reality Vienna's Magistratsabteilung 67 handles parking management. It was also a filming location for the 1994 film Freispiel. The school was designed as an architectural showcase, in Helmut Richter's words a school where "the unpleasant, which always stands out in schools, does not immediately make itself felt".
The building has stood empty since 2017 and is not open to visitors; it can only be viewed from the outside. It is a listed monument, so access to the interior is not possible. The glass wings are visible from a distance, including from the Gloriette.
The school was conceived as an architectural showcase; Helmut Richter said he wanted a school where "the unpleasant, which always stands out in schools, does not immediately make itself felt". A planned photovoltaic system that would also have provided shading was dropped for cost reasons, and the glass roof then caused summer heat; the gym roof leaked and water had to be caught in buckets, causing rust and mould.
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