Michaela Niederkircher, construction (18-part series): digital colour photography, photographic print on photographic paper matte, 2018/19, selection of 10 images.
This series is a further addition to her collection Stille Räume (quiet rooms), which she has been working on for years and where each part is different in character and documented photographically by the artist.

Amidst a hardly developed strip of land, like an unexpected foreign object, towers an imposing industrial facade. With its functionalistic characteristics, the facility stands in strong contrast to the surrounding vegetation and its contours compete with the blue of the sky. Despite the raw concrete walls which invoke Brutalist architecture, surprising aesthetic moments impose themselves upon entering the unfinished building.
A grey curtain of textile fabric flutters in the wind. Behind the veiled entrance hides another hall, marked by a mystifying interplay between light and shade. In addition to the light-effect fine colour accents create tension, including various pink and yellow building-materials. Multiple openings offer views over the surrounding green landscape, creating a particularly strong contrast to the uniformly grey concrete slabs of the building.
The interior architectural solutions seem equally fascinating and bizarre. A closed room, placed at maximum height and only accessible via a steel outside-staircase, seems fragile in contrast to the surrounding concrete masses and invokes images of Fantastic Realism.
At ground level, in a passage to a different room, is another textile element that is arranged like drapery, placed with what feels like deliberate form-language in mind. More machines, tools and materials are spread throughout the extensive building. Thanks to their colourfulness, they stand out from their grey surroundings and appear lost, almost lonely.
One’s curiosity concerning the purpose of this building’s architecture is awakened, yet at the same time, facing the enormous dimensions of this structure makes one shiver ever so slightly. However, these quiet rooms speak for themselves and confront the viewer with poetic imagery. Tension-filled details and charming structures rob the massive grey bulk of its heaviness and offer us a view of its genuine character.

Text: Hanna Ruschitzka