ORTE

There are 573 municipalities in Lower Austria, all of which are equally important to ORTE.
To this very day, ORTE has remained true to its founding principles: ORTE is nomadic and present throughout Lower Austria, putting on events and organizing a discerning program of quality architecture that brings building culture to the public in a number of different ways. This includes the continual expansion of our spectrum of activities to include, for example, film presentations, discussions held on walks, workshops, symposiums, and the publication of books. A constant component in the regional cultural scene, ORTE presents examples of excellence in the culture of architecture and planning by visiting buildings and sites, going on excursions, and holding lectures. The topics of the Lower Austrian architectural institution have also been significantly broadened over the decades: Today’s program is dedicated to complex issues such as sustainable residential developments, future-oriented traffic policy, and how our society cares for nature and the landscape.

You don’t need special knowledge, just curiosity.
ORTE wants to get people excited about architecture and building culture as a whole in order to make citizens into formidable partners in the shaping of our environment. For this, it is first and foremost important to sensitize people and to teach them about architecture and building culture without needing previous experience and going beyond any entrenched clichés and prejudices. 

Architecture is all around us.
ORTE’s declared goal is to bring as much attention as possible to the various aspects of building culture – comprehensively and through real experiences. The criteria for successful architecture and planning are as diverse as they are numerous: Scale, proportion, typology, gesture, construction, details, materials, light design, use, functionality, context, direction, visual relationships, atmosphere, efficiency, durability, flexibility, environmental sustainability – a sheer endless list. The requirements for educating about this are by comparison quite brief: ORTE strives to awaken interest, provide knowledge, stimulate critical viewpoints and involvement, and support enthusiastic interaction with the world around us.

No one builds for themself alone.
This is ORTE’s motto: Promoting building culture is above all a task that addresses people’s value systems. Each individual’s planning and building activities define the present and future of our cities and villages, our centers and suburbs, our townscapes and landscapes.

Perceiving space – appropriating space – evaluating space
 ORTE’s main functions can be summed up in four categories:

Creating space: ORTE is dedicated to the production of architecture and thus the conditions of creating architecture, planning processes, and framework conditions for planners.

Seeing space: ORTE shows well-designed and well-built examples of completed structures and teaches about quality, on-site whenever possible.

Thinking space: ORTE embeds the architectural discourse into the spectrum of “landscape – settlement – society” and focuses on the reciprocal effects of people with their designed and built environment.

Understanding space: ORTE sees itself as a “school of perception”. Large sectors of the population – especially young people – have to learn to recognize and understand the many opportunities to (and difficulties of) helping shape the environment. ORTE tries to encourage this by cooperating with educational institutions.

The network
Over the decades, ORTE has become the network first envisioned in 1994. Today, the association is – as intended by its founders – an active part of the Austrian Architectural Foundation, the nextroom architecture database, the Artist in Residence program of Lower Austria, the bink architecture and building culture education for young people initiative, and the Austrian Platform for Architectural Policy and Building Culture. ORTE also partners with educational and research institutions such as the Danube University Krems, and with key businesses, particularly ones active in the construction industry, and with numerous planners in Lower Austria and beyond.

ORTE and partners
Providing a program that addresses current topics year for year is made possible by six main pillars: The Lower Austrian Department of Art and Culture and Department of Building Administration, the Federal Chancellery’s Art Department, the Chamber of Architects and Engineering Consultants for Vienna, Lower Austria, and Burgenland, our business partners, and our many members all help support ORTE’s work.  Without their financial support, our mission to educate about building culture in Lower Austria would not be possible.