The new Georg Prunner Square on the Danube complete with bus shelter is based on a complex architectural idea, whereby pedestrian areas, car lanes and cycle paths are clearly separated by a system of lights yet at the same time the square as a whole is visually and acoustically connected to the central pedestrian zone.

The architect Franz Sam installed a total of four light objects. One of them, the transparent bus shelter with its suspended roof, has been fitted with information plates and telephone booths. Two others have been positioned to separate the square from the road and to signpost the way to the village. The quality of the design lies in its transparency but also in the amalgamation of old and new architectural elements of which there are several examples. In one case the base of the monument erected for Georg Prunner who fought in the resistance was raised to make room for a lighting fixture. Design, light and sound are made to interact with each other to stimulate our perception and sharpen our eye. Thus, the architect installed a sound axis consisting of three different objects. Sound patterns like "stormy weather" and "river at night" created by Roman Holzmayr with a view to the local scenario are set off by an alarm device.

Offergeld C., Franz Sam - Gestaltung des Georg-Prunner Platzes in Emmersdorf an der Donau, in: Hrsg.: Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung, Abteilung Kultur und Wissenschaft, Öffentliche Kunst, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Niederösterreich, Band 6, St.Pölten 2002, S.198-199

Photos: Margherita Spiluttini