Marathon Camp
Building in an age in which the Holocene era has long since given way to the man-made Anthropocene era, when the sediments of the waste products of civilization by far exceed those of nature, means building with materials that do not need to be newly produced.
With material intended for recycling, or with things that have reached the end of their useful life cycle. But building a camp for this Steirischer Herbst also means building for artists, activists, theorists, for visitors, for the city of Graz, for its inhabitants. Building for content, building for the 24/7 enjoyment of being there, giving and taking, discussing, thinking for yourself, learning something new, having a different opinion, having a place where you can be left alone for a while, so as to be able to carry on watching, listening, singing along, getting tired, fighting it. Get a breath of air, go back in, take a break, moan about everything, grab a bite to eat, go to bed.
The idea is to give the marathon camp a flexible form, linking the two buildings, the Thalia and Opernring 7, creating a landscape for working and living, a landscape that wants to be used. Not a turnkey facility handed over when the festival begins, but one that is constantly changing during the course of the marathon camp. And which will afterwards proudly sport the scars of a bustling week of living and working.
