KUALA LUMPUR, 15 July 2016 – To celebrate Austria’s architectural excellence and innovation, GALERI PETRONAS in collaboration with the Austrian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur yesterday launched a travelling exhibition titled, “Getting Things Done: Evolution of the Built Environment in Vorarlberg”.

Officiated by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Austria Christophe Ceska, the exhibition features 70 panels that showcase the evolution and current state of Vorarlberg’s distinctive built environment.

GALERI PETRONAS is the first Asian stop and the only venue in Malaysia to host this global- touring exhibition.

Dr. Wolfgang Fiel (second from left) giving a curatorial walkthrough of the exhibition to guests.

Speaking at the launch, PETRONAS Senior General Manager of Group Strategic Communications, Zahariah Abd Rahman said, “With megatrends of globalisation and urbanisation posing complex challenges to this growing region, it calls for an urgency to cope, thrive and get things done. This project signifies the qualities of pioneers, which are qualities that resonate with PETRONAS in its own quest for sustainable progress.”

Vorarlberg is a mountainous state in western Austria, bordered by Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland and has a population of a little over 375,000. The region has seen its building culture develop along a unique path with a movement beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The ‘Vorarlberger Bauschule’ (Vorarlberg School of Building), a product of this movement, is a name that resonates far beyond local and national borders and is now represented by a relatively high density of quality architecture.

Curated by Dr. Wolfgang Fiel, who is also an Artistic Director of Institute of Cultural Policy in Hamburg, this exhibition seeks to present “architecture from Vorarlberg” to an international audience.

“One of the main factors in the success and sustained quality of the building culture in Vorarlberg is the role of craft techniques and the forms of industrial production that have been derived from them. The exhibition display, which is a series of folders hanging in space, has been designed according to a modular concept catering to the fact that the exhibition requires quick and easy assembly and disassembly,” said Dr. Wolfgang Fiel.

The 70 panels from the “Getting Things Done: Evolution of the Built Environment in Vorarlberg” travelling exhibition

Visitors can expect to enjoy a multitude of photographic illustrations with works of various architects, showcasing architectural descriptions, plans, photographs as well as the work’s genesis.

Also present at the launch were Ambassadors and members of the Diplomatic Corps from the European Union to Malaysia as well as architecture and art fraternities.

The exhibition is open for public viewing at GALERI PETRONAS, Level 3, Suria KLCC from 14 July until 19 August 2016.

A talk by Dr. Wolfgang Fiel will also be held at the same venue between 10 – 12pm on 16 July 2016. Admission is free.