With the sustainable DOCKS project, ARE Austrian Real Estate is building a lively gateway to the district along Landstraßer Gürtel. Two arched buildings offer 9,000 square meters of multifunctional, sustainable space for loft offices, commercial use, and urban production. A façade screen stretches around 325 meters across both parts of the building and serves as sun protection for the windows behind it. 

For the design of the textile screen, ARE, in cooperation with the University of Applied Arts, announced an artistic competition in the photography department under the direction of Gabriele Rothemann. From 31 submissions, the jury selected Jakub Klak’s project “Vitalistic Portrait”, which is primarily based on the concept of vitalism – a philosophical construct popular in the 19th and 20th centuries that postulates the presence of an elusive life force in every living phenomenon and thus in living organisms. The project shows the realization of an artistic idea that extends from the exploration of analog technologies with natural materials in the photo lab to the presentation over more than 300 meters in the urban environment. With “Rollo der Sehnsucht” by Timna Lugstein and “Cable Porn” by Carlo Zappella, the second and third-placed works were also awarded prizes.