Mur Island has brought the Mur River back to the people of Graz. Up to a few years ago, the river had been polluted by sewage water and industrial effluent. So the fact that the Mur had dug itself 12m deeper into its riverbed after its regulation in the 19th century hardly bothered people. Now the river connecting and dividing the city has a good quality of water again. Graz-born Robert Punkenhofer inspired the New York artist Vito Acconci, New York’s art, design and media star to design the project, an accessible artificial island space on the Mur River in Graz.
The architect Vito Acconci was commissioned to propose an installation as one of numerous attractions for the city of Graz during its usage as the “Cultural Capital of Europe 2003”, an impetus to a fresh start. It is conceived as a twist in the river, a node in the river, a circulation-route in the middle of the river. The circulation-route is an island, a dome that morphs into a bowl that morphs into a dome. As the site he chooses the previously neglected Mur River, which runs straight through the city. This fluvial space was thus conquered as a new part of the urban fabric, and is now, in fact, a swimming arena. Long before its opening the structure attracted massive media attention, and was heavily criticized for its huge cost, which amounted to a large share of the campaign budget.
It has not yet been determined what the Mur Island will be functioned for after 2003. So it will stay anchored in the river. And it has long durability, as the analysis by the Graz University of Technology. Vito Acconci, who over-estimated the height of the water, admitted during a lecture that he himself was not quite sure the purpose of the project. Part of the idea was to render the river a public sphere and to offer new perspectives on the city.
The project was realized as a 47m-long reticular steel construction. The curved and twisted shape can be associated with a half-opened shell. Under the glass roof dome cooled by water, a cafe in blue and white offers the opportunity to enjoy being close to Mur River, something new even for locals. The bowl functions as a theater, which inside is lined with transparent bleachers made of grating or perforated metal, stepping down to a stage at the bottom of the bowl.
When the bowl is not being used as a theater, it will be used as a public space or plaza, in the middle of the river. The intersection of the dome and bowl, where the dome is transformed into a bowl and vice versa, a three-dimensional maze made of ropes, there’s an ‘Adventure Island’ for children. The playground stretches into the dome, at the edges, a sign of restriction to adult. The playground is usable both inside, behind the surface of the dome, and outside, on top of the water running down to the inside of the bowl.
Functions are mixed on this island. The playground functions in the theater as a backdrop for the stage and in the cafe as part of the ceiling, influencing each other. Just as bleachers descend the edge of the bowl, a ramp spirals up inside the dome. The ramp rises above toilets at the edge, and above a bar-counter around a kitchen in the middle, the waving ramp bulges out to make table-and-chair areas closer and closer to the water-covered dome.
Mur Island is also a ‘ship’ in fact, as it has navigation lights to warn to other ships possibly straying into Mur River. It is held by an anchor and is stabilized additionally by the two footbridges connecting it to the river banks. The construction of the installation was particularly difficult because of rocks on the riverbed and the changing water levels. But as it is shining in bright blue at night, the Mur Island cannot and will not be overlooked anyway.
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