Hohenems, Austria
MÉSZ-MÉK Diploma Award 2018

Concept and text: Anna Breuer-Lábady
Consultant: Levente Szabó DLA

The starting point of this diploma scheme was the cultural and religious context which defines the location to a great extent. Observable in the Hohenems, the religious stratification has its roots in the past, in an era when the town was a unique example in the co-existence of the Jews and the Christians – its memory is reflected by several buildings of the Jewish district, and such an example is also the Kitzinger House, in the neighbourhood of the design premise. Nowadays, more recent layers of the Islamic religion have covered the strata of the past since the 1950s and 60s. In such a colourful context, the House of Religions wishes to create a forum which allows for meetings, where people of various religions and approaches can get to know one another more thoroughly and exchange their views too.