In 2021, LAUT created this scenario for an Open Streets initiative in Vienna as a contribution to the exhibition CLIMATE CARE for the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK Vienna). The project is based on our insights and experience with Open Streets initiatives across the globe, and specifically references Bogota’s Ciclovia.
In the context of scarce public space resources and the urgent need to redefine how we value and use street spaces, “Open Streets for Vienna” envisions an 11.2 km long route that connects currently fragmented parts of the city. A recurring Open Streets event would provide extra urban space for non-motorized activities every Sunday from April to October.
This locally-novel type of periodic public space would connect five Viennese districts and provide about 30 hectares of open space supporting a wide range of recreational, festive, cultural, educational, and communal activities.
«Open Streets transform monofunctional traffic routes into vibrant urban spaces by temporarily closing them to motorized traffic and opening them up to...well, almost everything else.
In cities around the world, streets are being opened up to sustainable forms of mobility, to diverse physical activities, and to social interaction and individual leisure. Open Streets connect otherwise fragmented neighborhoods and foster cultural and neighborhood initiatives.
Route variations can be implemented on a rotating basis and flexibly combined so that each Open Streets event remains unique. When repeated, Open Streets become an active practice of transformative urban culture.
Open Streets invite people to see the city through new eyes and to co-create a climate-adapted future. They remind us that the city is at its best when experienced at human scale and speed, powered by human energy.»
Location: Vienna
Client: MAK – Museum of Applied Arts Vienna
Year: 2021
Project type: Concept, Exhibition Contribution
Scale: City
Status: Speculative Project
Team: Georg Wieser, Florian Lorenz
Collaborators: Martina Moro
