Page - 160 - in Demolished Modified Endangered - Modelling Austrian Architecture Of The 20th Century

160 KINDERGARTEN MONTREAL BY KARL SCHWANZER Year 1967 Status Demolished Material Wood Scale 1:100 Model maker Robert Anagnostopoulos In 1967, Karl Schwanzer designed a kindergarten for the world fair in Montreal. The building was a showroom for the kindergarten organisation run by the city of Vienna. The building was a collection of block-like structures, which were inspired by children’s colourful building bricks. The oversized building blocks were intended to create a sense of comfort and familiarity reminiscent of childhood memories of playing with similar toys. In contrast to the colourful exterior, the inside was kept more stripped back and plain in order to give children the creative opportunity to develop the space on their own.1 The building was an easily assembled prefabricated wooden structure. An exhibition room, as well as a large room for groups, was located in the centre of the building and connected to the garden so as to provide the possibility of playing both inside and outside. A cosy seating arrangement was in one corner of the building. The other side contained the kitchen, the cloak room, the lavatory and the bathrooms.2 1 Schwanzer, Karl (1973): Architektur aus Leidenschaft: 25 Jahre Arbeit Karl Schwanzer. Wien, München: Modulverlag. 111. 2 Kindergarten der Stadt Wien auf der Expo ´67 in Montreal. http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-332944. 14.8.2018.