MQ Freiraum

As part of the ‘ORF Long Night of Museums’, the MuseumsQuartier Wien invites visitors on a journey through time, exploring its own history: 25 years after its opening, the exhibition ‘Vision and Resistance: How the MuseumsQuartier Changed Vienna’ looks back on the conflict-ridden development of one of the world’s largest arts and culture complexes. Sketches, plans, architectural models, and art works tell the story of the site’s transformation, spanning a wide arc from the Baroque royal stables via the Messepalast to the planning and construction of the MQ. The focus is on the architecture of Manfred and Laurids Ortner, their winning competition entry from 1990, and the public controversies surrounding the project. At the same time, the exhibition shows how the former Messepalast was already being used by cultural initiatives and tested as an open space even before its conversion. This demonstrates that the MQ was never intended to be a static monument, but rather a living urban space that is constantly evolving. In the special atmosphere of the ‘Long Night’, the exhibition opens up new perspectives on a place that has left a lasting mark on Vienna and continues to shape its future.

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