date

06-2023

available time

4 months

materials

pvc-pipes
metal
acrylic glas

type

individual research

environment

Designacademy
Studio-Technogeography

Involved

Martina Muzi
FABER

In Austria, the enormously high dependence of the structures on winter-sports has created a mono-industry, which has led to a mono-interest of the public.
Due to climate change, snowy winters are rare. To counteract this, investments are made in the industrially manufactured product artificial snow as if it is a state font.
While the system behind is promoted as a purely natural process, the archaeological archives of the Alps are pervaded by a distant created standardized system.
This system requires 16 trillion liters of drinking water,
where 40% is already lost in the snowmaking process alone (drifting and evaporation).
The system redirects natural paths of water and removes it from natural sources in times of water shortage.
The capacity and number of artificial lakes have dramatically and exponentially increased in the last 20 years even though it is predicted that these investments will only last for the next 10 to 20 years.
The critical ecosystem of the alps is interfered and disrupted by the quickly approved new construction projects on the grounds of public interest. Choosing this temporary maintenance allows only a brief preservation of economic strength but leaves permanent structure and consequences.

The phenomenon is represented by 3 objects in 3 different scales:


1. Austria - dimension: its 467 artificially created lakes, which is represented as an abstract number on the basis of a surface. 

2. Invividual ski resort - absurdity: The three free moving arms of the turnstile reflect the hierarchical order of water supply chosen by the public: 1st Artificial Snow production, 2nd Public need, 3rd Ecosystem.

3. Water guidence - contrast: Based on several selected objects found on site in the alpine region, these are arranged according to the the guidence of the water and the ecological value. A new standardized object has been created, which is modular in sequence but in this version represents an optimal order to create as much snow as possible in the shortest time.

The public chooses this short-sighted solution to temporarily solve a permanent problem and maintain the fading romance of the snow-covered Alps for economic stability.

The absurdity is compounded by the enormous contrast of the extensively diverted and conveyed natural water before the split-second transformation to profitable industrially produced snow. The extent is reflected by the number of artificial reservoirs, whose only purpose is to supply the ski resorts.