Anchored in the historic Southern Pavilion, once the Pavillons des amateurs, PART occupies a building shaped by more than a century of artistic production. The renovation completed between 2023 and 2025 brought the structure into the present while preserving the resonance of its past.
THE HALL at PART is conceived as a site of artistic imminence. Neither white cube nor studio, rising 17 meters with a bristling skylight, it operates as a porous zone that connects international artistic discourses with societal, political, and ecological questions articulated within Austria’s diverse communities.
In close proximity are PART’s project studios, accommodating up to six residents at a time. Together with the BAR DES AMATEURS, adjoining THE HALL, they form a constellation of spaces in which working, showing, and gathering contour one another.
Austria’s state sculptor studios have been located in the spacious inner-city park of the Prater since 1873. They were originally built as pavilions for the fifth World’s Fair, which, for the first time, was devoted to art on a large scale. A special cluster of buildings was erected for presenting contemporary and historical works: a large art hall, which has not survived, and the two Pavillons des amateurs, in which the collections of private art collectors (Fr. amateurs) were to be shown. Most of the more than 100 buildings erected were demolished once the World Fair ended. The Pavillons des amateurs were repurposed however into sculptor studios and their architectural structure adapted accordingly. Since 1876 they are leased to contemporary artists.
text by Matthias Boeckl, 2025
reading time: 8 - 10 minutes
A central hall in one of the Pavillon des amateurs, Vienna 1873
Drawing for the adaptation of both Pavillons des amateurs in the k. k. Prater, profile
Drawing for the adaptation of both Pavillons des amateurs in the k. k. Prater, plan for the souterrain
Drawing for the adaptation of both Pavillons des amateurs in the k. k. Prater, plan for the ground floor
North Pavillon des amateurs, architecture exhibition, model of the Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna, by Gottfried Semper and Carl von Hasenauer
North Pavillon des amateurs, architecture exhibition, model of Vienna city hall by Friedrich von Schmidt
North Pavillon des amateurs, architecture exhibition, model of the University of Vienna by Heinrich von Ferstel
Pavillon des amateurs, view of the portal
Pavillon des amateurs, cross-section view of a small and large exhibition hall
Pavillon des amateurs, cross-section view through a side vestibule and a hall
Pavillon des amateurs, ground plan
South Pavillon des amateurs, portico
South Pavillon des amateurs, view from the north
North Pavillon des amateurs, west wing
North Pavillon des amateurs, view from the south
North Pavillon des amateurs, portico
North Pavillon des amateurs, view from the southwest
Triumphal arch of the Wienerberger brick factory (eastern side of the art court)
Arcade in the art court with sculpture exhibition
Art hall in the court, eastern side
Art hall in the court, eastern portico
Art exhibition building, western side with the Ahmed fountain, Vienna World’s Fair 1873
Art court under construction, view from the east
Site map of the art court, in: World’s Fair 1873 in Vienna. Official Art Catalogue
Site map of the Vienna World’s Fair, detail with the art court
Art court from above
Art court under construction, view from the southwest
Vienna World’s Fair, rotunda and industry palace
Vienna at the time of the World’s Fair, bird’s eye perspective from the northeast
The World Fair palace
Vienna World’s Fair, view of the rotunda with swan pond
View of the World’s Fair 1873 from a bird’s eye perspective
The Southern and Northern Pavilions, long known as the Praterateliers and formerly home to the Federal Sculpture Building, have hosted generations of artists for roughly 150 years. This continuity persists: fifteen artists currently work on site, sustaining a direct, daily exchange with Vienna’s broader art scene.
