The small tobacco shop in Nussdorfer Straße 4 in Vienna has always had a special standing in the ‘Grätzl’ (neighborhood) as an informal meeting place among the inhabitants before the femicide. Aer the conversion, the space continues to characterize the urban context as a popular meeting spot and modern monument against violence against women.

The architecture establishes a narrative on different levels:
on the social level, it offers a flexible space open to dialogue on the position of women;
on the historical level, it establishes a formal continuity with the pre-existing building, whose façade has been restored;
on the symbolic level, it leaves an eloquent sign in the plasterwork that recalls the cruelty of the act committed;
on the technical and design level, it proposes a contrast between the heaviness of the 19th-century walls and the lightness of the modern interventions in steel, glass, and white canvas.

The clarity of the surfaces sublimates the violence of femicide in an abstract space, which also symbolically represents a blank canvas available to the artists. In the project, the original aluminium handle of the old shop was recovered, which bears the marks of the many touches and the many hands of the people who frequented that space.

The metal surface facing the street accompanies us from the hustle and bustle of the outside to the quietness of the interior. Its sheen reflects the image of the people, the city, and the works of art, creating a whole new perspective. “FRAU* schafft Raum” serves as a platform for a multifaceted discourse and transforms the site of violence into a place of memory, solidarity, and prevention.

PHOTOS BY Christoph Kleinsasser

PHOTOS BY Christoph Kleinsasser

PHOTOS BY Christoph Kleinsasser

PHOTOS BY Christoph Kleinsasser

PHOTOS BY Christoph Kleinsasser

PHOTOS BY Christoph Kleinsasser

PHOTOS BY Christoph Kleinsasser

PHOTOS BY Christoph Kleinsasser