Concrete barbecue furniture distinguished
The city of Vienna, Austria, plans to install new barbecue furniture on the Danube Island, the popular recreational paradise. Department 45 of the city administration “Viennese Waterways,” the Austrian cement industry and the Association of the Austrian Concrete and Precast Plants had invited students to submit entries to the Concrete Design Award 2013 “Barbecue Edition 25.” After the Facebook users had chosen their favorites, a prestigious jury, chaired by Univ. Prof. Mag. arch. Paolo Piva, Institute for Industrial Design at the University for Applied Arts, chose the winners of the first three prizes.
The design “Donauwelle” (Danube wave) of the TU team Benjamin Kromoser and Martin Ritt won the first prize, the models “Grillmaxx” and “Donaugrill” shared the second prize. “The winning teams submitted well thought through constructive approaches and boldness of design,” enthused DI Felix Friembichler, managing director of the Association of the Austrian Cement Industry, over the high quality of the works.
Complex requirement profile
The specifications had called for an inviting table-bench combination for eight to ten people made exclusively of concrete. The furniture was to be functional, user- and maintenance friendly, UV and weather proof, resistant to vandalism, and especially durable. “The existing furniture on Danube Island is notoriously subject to vandalism. The size of the barbecue installations previously used is moreover impractical, because it consumes much heating material,” says the initiator, Senate Councilor DI Gerald Loew. “Barbecuing is a very popular leisure activity which, however, is subject to strict regulations. Concrete is exactly the right material: it is regarded as reliable and safe and can, moreover, be cast into wonderful shapes.”
The total of 22 entries were submitted by students of the Universities of Vienna and Graz, the University of Natural Science and Life Resources Vienna, the University for Applied Arts, the Academy for Fine Arts, the Bfi graduate program International Design, FH Campus Vienna, HTL Mödling, FH Johanneum Graz, and the Leopold Franzens University Innsbruck.
Winner “Donauwelle” hotspot for communication
The winner was the project “Donauwelle” created by the TU Vienna duo Benjamin Kromoser and Martin Ritt. It impressed the jury with its original archaic conception of a campfire site and its round shape. The design offers itself a hotspot for communication in a campfire atmosphere. “The very thin tabletop that, at first glance, appears to be utopian, can be implemented with modifications, the same as the armrests that can be comfortably shaped,” says the Jury in its unanimous decision. “The project provides for the use of textile-reinforced concrete. The filigree reinforcement enables the creation of very thin elements of tensile strength,” emphasizes Friembichler as positive. “The use of new materials was especially important to us. This is the reason why we have so intensively concerned ourselves with textile reinforcement,” stressed Kromoser.
“Grillmaxx” and “Donaugrill” share the second prize
A team of students of TU Vienna and BOKU shared the second prize with a team of students from the University for Applied Art Vienna. “Grillmaxx,” a design created by Fabian Schicker (BOKU), Patrick Olczy-kowski and Tugyan Ertürk (TU Vienna), is an outstanding example of linear shapes and convinces through its clarity of form language. The design “Donaugrill” of Lo-renz Krisai and Hugo Eynius Toro presents itself in a similarly modern form language.
The chosen projects passed the acid test with focus on feasibility and implementability. The competition prize of 7,000 euros was divided up into 3,000 euros for the first prize, 1,500 euros each for the two runners-up and 500 euros each for the two recognitions.
