Vito Acconci’s Island in the Mur defies definition. A convoluted mass of steel and glass connected to the banks of the Mur River traversing the city of Graz, Austria, the island houses an amphitheater, cafe, and playground, all of which flow into one another. Acconci is quick to point out his design’s metamorphic qualities: “The functions are mixed, there’s no hierarchy, no boundaries, no separation between inside and outside.”
Acconci, a New York—born artist, revels in his disregard for limits. His career has evolved over several decades and includes successful stints as a writer, performance artist, and creator of video installations and participatory sculpture. Most recently, he formed an architecture firm, Acconci Studio, in New York City, which specializes in public-space design and has built projects ranging from a movable garden in Munich to a screen walkway in Tokyo.
The Mur River, long seen as a dividing line in Graz, became a focus of the city’s attention when Graz began preparing for its yearlong celebration as the 2003 Cultural Capital of Europe. In 1999, Austrian art curator Robert Punkenhofer proposed the idea of creating an island that would unite the city and change citizens’ perception of the river. Acconci was the natural choice for the commission, considering that some of the key elements in his work—movement and evolution—match Graz’s own transformation from “Austria’s second city” to a renowned center of contemporary art in its own right.
The island’s two intertwined orbs, an open bowl and a closed dome, may contrast with Graz’s traditional architecture, but they harmonize with nature. Acconci says, “We tried to make an island of water; on the one hand, it would literally carry water, support water—on the other hand, it would be as fluid as water.” Originally, Acconci envisioned the island as a contiguous space from both sides of the river that could be entered from underneath the island. However, due to budget constraints, footbridges were used to connect the island to the city and lessened Acconci’s goal of “continuity from riverbank to riverbank.”
Within this undulating, 320-ton latticework construction, there are many intersections of activities. Visitors can grab a bite to eat, attend a concert, and let their kids amuse themselves, all at the same time or separately. As a new permanent landmark, the island has already enmeshed itself in the fabric of life in Graz and served as the performance space for many of the Cultural Capital festivities. As Acconci notes, “Once an architecture moves, then it becomes generative; it enters the field of biological processes it grows the way a city grows.”
—Diana Lind