IMPERISHABLE RELICS
Vienna, Austria | 2015
About this project
Mural painted in Vienna, Austria, curated by Inoperable with support from Liquitex and Red Bull Austria.
In the late 1940’s, Hitler ordered a series of flak towers to be constructed in Germany and Austria to defend against air attacks and serve as shelters. With walls up to 3.5m thick, the structures were made so indestructible they still remain today. Many see these towers as an eye sore but others see them as a reminder of a dark past never to be repeated.
Many of the towers still remain empty, however a few have been redesigned to give them a new life. In 1957, the flak tower located only a few blocks from the mural was re purposed to be an aquarium. The former bunker is now a place dedicated to preserving a diversity of (animal) life and the imparting of knowledge. The mural tells the story of how the neighborhood of Mariahilf not only rose from all the challenges history subjected it to, but also how it turned the horrors of its past into a bright, positive and multifaceted future.
