The design for the infopoint central information office is based on three main themes:

The extant physical structure:
Separating the actual façade and the main square with a solid, continuous stone wall like a barricade keeping visitors at bay. A wooden structure of steps devoid of handrails and other distracting features was built onto the front of this wall, neutralizing in this way the implied barrier and encouraging the visitor to walk over or lounge on the artificial landscape.

The material used for this landscape extends through the thermal façade creating an interior landscape for presentation stands and counters. This uniform element runs through the interior and exterior. The bright lighting of the interior space makes the actual façade recede into the background. The main square extends into the info zone, while at the same time the info zone flows out onto the main square.

The historical structure:
The architects’ intention was not to design just another stylish downtown shopping area, but to avoid interfering with the historically tainted structure as much as possible. After clearing out the interior space (all built-in units were removed and the walls and ceilings stripped from various design influences collected during the second half of the last century), they achieved their objective: a new layer was spread across the floor like a bolt of fabric, billowing and arching into counters and benches, and finally forming a partition wall that stands in front of the massive central wall without actually touching it. This temporary layer has been erected as inexpensively as possible using ordinary engineered wood that could be dismantled with little effort. The visitor should sense the temporary character of the structure.

The second wall layer mounted in front of the permanent walls consists of a wooden structure perforated by plastic boxes (mass-produced, € 1.50 each). Lit from behind, they serve as compartments for product presentation.

The pattern:
‘linz ist provinz’ – it’s a catchy phrase, and it’s true too: linz is unmistakably provincial. And one thing that definitely won’t work is for linz to try to present itself as urban and “chic.” our design involves a tongue-in-cheek reference to regionalism and a welcoming gesture wrapped into one: the red-and-white chequered tablecloth as a symbol of hospitality. The visitor is confronted with only this enormous tablecloth; there is no other information inscribed on billboards, banners, or building façades – the infopoint information office should do the job.

ARCHITECT: caramel architekten, Vienna, Austria, www.caramel.at. LOCATION: Linz, Austria. DATE: 2009.
COPYRIGHT: caramel architekten. PHOTOES: Dietmar Tollerian – all rights caramel. No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Morfae and the copyright owner.