With the EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam and the ongoing project Haus für Film und Medien in Stuttgart, DMAA has already engaged intensively with the subject of cinema, film and its spatial experience.

In line with the motto “to preserve and to show”, the Filmarchiv Austria houses hundreds of thousands of exhibits from Austrian film history. Since 1997, the Augarten federal building, located in a natural green oasis, has served as the headquarters. All the main functional areas are to be concentrated at this high-profile address with a direct subway connection: the new underground storage facility with depot, the Film Study Centre as Austria‘s innovative audiovisual library, the Preservation Centre for film restoration, an indoor-cinema and finally a cinema in the park as an open, low-threshold event space.

DMAA‘s architectural concept envisages the volumes being underground as far as possible, above all to avoid endangering the valuable trees. The harmonious integration into the park landscape was the top priority, resulting in an ensemble of grown nature and designed space.

The existing open-air cinema will be extended to include a grandstand, as well as rooms for a film study centre and catering facilities. The above-ground parts of the building are divided into smaller pavilions with glazed facades that merge the interior and exterior spaces. Below ground, an indoor cinema with 160 seats and a film repository with a connection to the archive will be developed.

The roof of the underground storage facility near the existing building will be used as a new tree planting area and sealed surfaces will be reduced to a minimum.