Literature in Graz. This relationship has existed for decades and has not only given the city a reputation as a centre of committed literary activity in Austria but has regularly been addressed and discussed at a socio-political level. The bizarre encounter of local down-to-earth quality and avant-garde literature in a city whose image of itself is to a considerable extent derived from its southern location, strongly oriented towards northern Italy, continues to bear fruit and in 2000 led to the municipal administration setting up a competition for a Literaturhaus (House of Literature) beside the existing "Kulturhaus" in a 19th century palace. The "Kulturhaus" has an L-shaped plan, the longer leg of which lies on a wide and busy main road whereas the shorter wing extends into a side street. The development of the courtyard is a reaction to this situation. It meant that both the existing building and the park-like palace garden, lying somewhat lower, could be kept free of interventions, while the built structure of the place was increased in density, analogous to the function of the Literaturhaus, which increases the density of content as an interface between practice, documentation, research and public. The new building consists of two yellow-coloured, fair-faced concrete elements: a flat cube completes the floor plan of the existing building, where the offices and library are located, up to the level of the entrance floor to form a rectangle and the events hall, whose south facade opens onto a lower-lying open space with seating steps, that relates to the garden. It serves as a plinth for a smaller two-storey block that makes the existing L into a U (apart from a narrow slit in which a lift provides a connection) and contains a café on the lower level and the archive on the upper floor. A fine terrace created on the roof of the plinth building provides a connection between the palace at the higher level and the lower events hall and garden, while also functioning as seating area that offers the café public a view of the park. The clear positioning of the two new elements along with the homogeneity in terms of materials and colour, the various changes in level and the relationships between different areas creates a precise balance against the background of the existing building that reflects the relationship between the city and literature referred to above – a relationship that derives its strength from the encounter of extremely different components that combine to produce a surprisingly vital entity.

Eva Guttmann