MAK Vienna Bookstore Entrance

Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst

When this project was first presented to the Mayor’s Office in Vienna for approval, the plan to cut a new bookstore entranceway into an exterior wall of the M.A.K. building was rejected on the grounds that it would violate an important historic institution. In an effort to compensate for restrictions, the section of wall and window removed to create a point of entry is conscientiously preserved as part of a public plaza in front of the bookstore. This extracted fragment exists as a responsible act of preservation, an independent work of public art and, at the same time, reminds the community of its biographical origins as part of the original wall.