Outreach
In the “Building blocks of the past and future” project, pupils at GRG 10 Laaerberg researched the history of the Ziegelböhm, learned about sustainable construction methods - and shaped their own clay bricks with messages for a just future.
In cooperation with artists, historians and architecture experts, historical, social and ecological topics were combined in an innovative way.
Wienerberg brick with H D embossing standing for Heinrich Drasche
Picture source: https://www.bezirksmuseum.at/de/museum/favoriten/
Building blocks of the past and future
How Bricks become History.
A Project in four bricks.
Art Walk in the Bohemian Prater in collaboration with Inselmilieu Reportage
The students took part in a guided tour through the Bohemian Prater, once a place of recreation for brick workers. Equipped with Bluetooth headphones, they gained insights into migration, industrial history and the social realities of the time. The tour was accompanied by performances, installations and drama.
The focus was on the history of the so-called Ziegelböhm - migrant workers who came to Vienna from regions such as Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia from around 1848 until the interwar period to work in the brick factories of the 10th district. At the time, they made up around a quarter of Vienna's total population. Many of them were employed on a seasonal basis, lived in the most basic, sometimes adverse conditions and performed hard physical labor with 15-hour shifts per day. There was also a truck system in which wages were not paid in cash but in company-owned tokens. The term “sandler” (a worker who poured sand into the brick molds) was also coined here.
The “Ziegelböhm” made key contributions to the construction of the Ringstraße and Vienna's magnificent buildings, as well as Vienna's municipal buildings. Around 80% of Vienna's brick production took place in Favoriten around 1900 - an area that at times was home to more brickworks than any other city in Europe.(Sources: https://newsv2.orf.at/stories/2276443/2275943/ DÖW, Stadtarchiv Wien, Wien Museum)
The content was reflected on together in subsequent discussion rounds.
Sustainable building: Earth instead of concrete
In a former clay pit, the young people learned more about the differences between concrete and clay and the renaissance of clay construction as an ecological building method through specialist presentations by artist Nikolaus Eckhard and architect Jakob Bartmann. Together they scooped clay - a traditional, climate-friendly building material with great relevance for the future.
Brick making at school
Back at school, the pupils made their own bricks and other works of art from this clay, decorated them with individual inscriptions and thus dealt artistically with memory, identity and sustainability.
Final exhibition
The project concluded with an exhibition in which the bricks produced were presented and the underlying ideas explained. The presentation emphasized the importance of historical labor migration and linked it to today's social and ecological challenges.
“Building blocks of the past and future” promoted historical awareness, cultural reflection, understanding of labor migration and working conditions, craftsmanship skills and sustainable thinking. The project made history tangible - and opened up perspectives for a solidary, ecological future.
Funded by OEAD, Federal Ministry of Education and Vienna Culture
In cooperation with Inselmilieu Reportage https://www.inselmilieu-reportage.at/
Management/art educators: Sandra Bayer, Alina Hagenschulte, Julia Riederer
Lectures: Nikolaus Eckhard, Jakob Bartmann
Art Walk concept and production: Hans-Christian Hasselmann
Assistant director: Maruša Sirc
Production management: Lilly Maaß
Sound design: Tobias Schützenberger, Adrian Fuchs
Costume/set design: Julia Riederer, Panagiota Lazarou
Art Walk artists: Willian Lopes, Claudia Kainberger, Anna Prokopová, Kollektiv KLAUS, Maren Streich
Helpers: Katia Rakevich, Soizic Michelon, Elena Sterlini, Teresa Schimanko
