Ars Electronica Center

Ars Electronica began in Linz in 1979 as a festival about art and technology, and the museum that grew out of it opened in 1996 and was remodelled in 2009 as this glass box on the north bank of the Danube. The skin is covered in LEDs and changes colour after dark, which is how most people in Linz recognise it. Inside, the exhibits are hands-on and change often: robotics, machine learning, biotechnology, prosthetics, work made in the labs upstairs. The room people remember is Deep Space, where very large images are projected onto the wall and the floor at the same time, in scheduled sessions through the day.

History

Ars Electronica began with its first festival in September 1979, founded by Hannes Leopoldseder, Hubert Bognermayr, Herbert W. Franke and Ulrich Rützel; the festival was held every two years at first and every year since 1986, and the Prix Ars Electronica has been awarded since 1987. The Ars Electronica Center opened with its Futurelab in 1996 and was remodelled in 2009 (Wikipedia, Ars Electronica).

Highlights

• Deep Space - the double projection room, wall and floor, with timed sessions on art, space and microscopy.
• The lab floors - biotechnology, robotics and machine learning benches where things can be handled.
• The LED facade - the colour-shifting skin, best seen from the old town across the river.
• The festival week - the September programme that spreads out across venues in the city.

When to go

Open all year except Mondays. The building looks best after dark when the facade is lit, so a late afternoon visit covers both the exhibits and the exterior. Deep Space sessions run to a timetable posted at the entrance, so pick a slot on arrival. The festival takes over Linz for several days each September and needs separate booking.

Practical notes

Much of it is pitched at school groups and can be loud and crowded on weekday mornings. Interactive exhibits break and stay broken for a while. Deep Space content is repetitive if you sit through several sessions, and there is no seating in it, so you stand or lie on the floor. Labelling is thorough in German and thinner in English.

Nearby

The Lentos art museum and the Linz old town are across the Nibelungen bridge.

Key facts