Philipp Muerling: „Where everyone is welcome...“ Access through the Main Entrance
Philipp Muerling is an art student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Since the renovation of the academy building on Schillerplatz, he has been drawing attention to the building's lack of barrier-free accessibility with his staircase performances.
Odyssey into the building – A visit to Schillerplatz
1 October 2022, semester start. I drive my electric wheelchair up to the grand staircase of the main entrance of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. I drop myself onto the floor and try to crawl up the stairs. I pull myself up one step at a time along the handailing. Even if I could reach the entrance door, I would still be without my wheelchair. But of course, I failed. Although the descent is faster and easier, I cannot pull myself back into the wheelchair without help. An absurd spectacle that was and still is appropriate to the situation. This action illustrates the torment that arises when a part of society is ignored.
Before I can start my student daily life at the Academy of Fine Arts, I first have to navigate a cobblestone path to reach the back entrance. Outdoors, exposed to the wind and weather, between rubbish bins and without a roof over my head, I wait until the porter answers the intercom and presses the door opener – if someone responds and the technology works. After the back entrance door, there is a steep downhill slope with dangerous gaps in the floor – for me, these can only be overcome with an assistant or an electric wheelchair. The next door can be opened at the touch of a button – again, provided the technology works. I continue with the lift and then through the entire building to register at the reception at the main entrance or pick up the key for my workroom.
Despite a three-year, costly renovation of the main building of the Academy of Fine Arts, accessibility is still only possible via the rear entrance. Although the architecture on Schillerplatz is under monument protection, it is still a public building and should therefore be accessible to everyone, according to the Federal Disability Equality Act. One year after the renovation, I started my staircase performances to draw attention to this problem.
Already at the beginning of my studies in 2015, as the first student in a wheelchair at the academy, I was asked for advice on accessibility. I was asked to clarify the obvious, e.g. the need for door openers and that disabled toilets are not storage rooms. But just because I am in a wheelchair does not mean I can speak for everyone. After all, there are experts on issues of inclusion and accessibility. Perhaps the hope was that I would be the first and last problem in a wheelchair.
Discussions with the rectorate and representatives of BIG (the company responsible for the renovation) about ‘possible solutions’ were not productive. No option was feasible, as all of them violated safety or monument protection regulations. I should not have waited until after the renovation to point out that a rear entrance is not an inclusive, barrier-free entrance. I should be reasonable, because “we cannot make the main entrance accessible just for you.“
BIG no longer wants to bear the costs of rectifying the mistake after the renovation. The rectorate is to blame. No one wants to and will take responsibility here. So I will protest again this year for accessibility at Schillerplatz.
further information:
https://www.architektur-aktuell.at/news/odyssee-ins-gebaeude
https://andererseits.org/lernblockade/