A vision has become reality. Bilding, a unique facility for aesthetic education and creative encouragement for children and youths has finally found its very own space in Innsbruck's Rapoldipark.
Based on the conceptual groundwork, that a voluntary group of architects connected to aut. architektur und tirol provided for the planning of this building, students of ./studio3 carried out the final design. Supervised by Walter Prenner, Verena Rauch and Wolfgang Pöschl 17 projects were submitted as bachelor theses. In December 2014 a jury selected Niklas Nalbach's project for further development. In cooperation with numerous companies and thanks to the gratuitous work of structural engineers, architects and expert planners the project was collectively developed for final construction. In mid April 2015 construction work began on the site provided by the city of Innsbruck. Thanks to the students' dedicated work effort, bilding was completed within just five months and at low-cost.
The result is a workshop resembling a pavilion that not only offers the perfect space for the children and youths working within, but also enriches the surrounding park with it's singular architecture. Outside decks and floor to ceiling glass walls connect the curved building to its surroundings and on the inside, slanting walls and floors create a continuum of spaces with various atmospheres and work opportunities.
An experimental space has been designed and constructed by young people for young people. A place for change, which sees education as “a work in progress”, and encourages active participation. bilding's extensive programme, starting this autumn, proves the opportunities offered by location and space.
We would like to thank all of those who provided their expertise and skill, their calling, their funds and their energy. It was only the cooperation of all these people, convinced that our children need such a place, which enabled the realisation of this new space of creativity.
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The programme in the bilding provides a unique facility for aesthetic education and creative encouragement for children and youths – compared to a music school, the kids (four- to nineteen year olds) learn and experience from artists in various fields: architecture, painting, sculpturing, design, film and new media.
bilding's extensive programme is free for everybody, especially underprivileged kids are invited to the bilding.
The bilding made a former non-place into an atmospheric oasis on the banks of the Sill.
The wooden structure creates a link to the park and forms an inviting place. The building opens up towards the Rapoldi Park and presents life and a creative and positive environment to a place that used to be a roughed up skate park.
The Project of Niklas Nalbach was chosen because of the very open and spatial continuum, there were no rooms and no endings - landscape inside and outside, continuum, light, embedding in the park, etc.
We, the tutors knew, that it was an experiment to enthuse the group of 27 students for the project of Niklas – as it was the project, which was elaborated at least, all the other students could find themselves in the project. The students built everything by themselves, with help from the companies. From the wooden shell, the membrane to the furniture, to the electric, heating, water installations, decking outside the students built the bilding within 5 months.
The bilding is a wooden shell that is open in all directions. We had a company as partner (Binderholz) for the BBS-Panels, a renewable source of material that was locally produced. The 350 different panels (1,25m wide) arrived cnc-pre-cut (done by the students) at the building site and were screwed on site by the students.
The experimental space invites everybody to enter, play, and work with the structure. It has no barriers, as it is open and free to all the people passing by. The daylight flushes trough the bilding, the two fanlights bring special and strong light into the main internal space – it is a communication zone, the kids play and draw, paint, lay, chill on the ground. Everything is made out of wood and the kids like the atmosphere, because they know how to work with wood.
The rough wooden structure in the spatial continuum is used as a tool – the surfaces are not treated and courage the kids and youth to adopt it as a workshop and studio for themselves.
Within time the bilding will get a lot of tracks - as we see architecture as work in progress, we very much appreciate it.
