On the initiative of KÖR and Wiener Linien, an artistic design was sought for the new noise barrier and retaining wall along the U6 subway line between the subway stations Alterlaa and Erlaaer Straße. The artists Markus Linnenbrink and Ingo Nussbaumer were invited to submit designs.

The noise barrier runs along the subway tracks and opposite the new residential buildings. Between the sidewalk and bike path and the retaining wall there is a green strip of varying width, which is also to be redesigned and planted.

On March 30, 2021, the five-member jury decided in favor of the design by artist Markus Linnenbrink.

Winning design: Markus Linnenbrink

Opaque, colored panels drip downward over empty strips below, allowing existing graffiti to show through. Through this seemingly simple design, the artist's craft can be felt and experienced by passers-by who will pass the newly designed noise barrier - on foot or by bike. The resulting accessibility is the great quality of this design and makes it special. Because the artist does not cover up the existing, but integrates this recent city history, which lies in the existing graffiti, documenting it in his work. The alternation of pictorial design and planted areas also creates a dialogue with nature. The artist thus creates a work with a particular sense of place, which nevertheless remains universally readable.

-- Statement of the jury

Ascending and descending horizontal bands of color cover the wall section to be designed in an overarching manner. At the respective ends of the subdivisions, differently colored, mostly contrasting color stripes of the same width meet, on one side the narrower ends, on the other the wider ones. Not all stripes meet, some run out at the upper or lower edge of the wall or picture.

The painting should allow for the vertical drippings that occur during application. This produces painterly color events that distinguish the design from a mere paint job. Between the opaque color stripes, existing graffiti remain visible through open spaces. These are overflowed by the dripping paint. Thus, the existing is not completely painted over, but is integrated into the work. This creates a dynamic between opaque colors and overflowing graffiti.

The bundling of the color tracks gives the wall a spatial dimension, which can be experienced as a transforming perspective when walking or cycling past. The view from the adjacent apartments, especially as a top view from the higher floors, allows an overview in which the design presents itself as a larger whole.

Further competition entry: Ingo Nussbaumer

Walking or (bicycle) riding along the accompanying path allows for the creation of a wide variety of glances, with which the wall can gain presence. In order to free it from its monotonous appearance, it is provided with different color fields, which rhythmically tie into the overall appearance. In doing so, the change of colors is done according to the principle of relationship and contrast. However, the alternation should not be characterized by a succession of "opaque and intense" colors, but partially opaque to achromatic tones that emphasize or highlight a color theme (simple contrasts) from section to section. Towards the end of the wall, the interpenetration of the tones becomes more pronounced, so that it is distinguished from the simpler juxtaposition at the beginning of the wall.

The horizontal arrangement was guided by a principle of simple subdivision, so that a shadow band in the center of the field and along the wall accompanies the individual color fields.

The shadow band running down the center of each panel, however, not only has the function of rhythmically dividing each surface and creating visual tension, but also structurally repeats the projection that is above the wall. This places more emphasis on the horizontal to the vertical in the articulation to balance the tension of the horizontal and vertical.

The colorful rhythm should intend to arouse curiosity as to how the color fields present themselves from close up and in a frontal view of the individual sections, only to have one's gaze wander again over the entire visible section and into the distance.