Filling Station without Fuel, Malawi 2022 -Image Michelle Howard
TANKED
fill the tank of a vehicle with fuel.
drink heavily; become drunk.
fail completely, especially at great financial cost.
deliberately lose or fail to finish.
COACH - PROFESSORSHIP AT THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS, VIENNA
Design Studio IKA Academy of fine Arts, Vienna
Bachelors Winter Semester 2022 / 23 - Michelle Howard and Valerie Messini
Students
Kári Arnasson
Benjamin Baar
Julian Schönborn
Jasper Knaebel
Ambrosia Köb
Dóra Kovács
Valerie Johanna Mauerhofer
Philipp Ortinger
Oskar Pollack
Sopia Rettl
Manuel Rugo
Elena Maria Schlüter
Hannah Schmidleitner
Florian Schüly
Hanna Thomaseth
Reviewers
Reviewers
Michael Hirschbichler
Johanna Digruber
Christina Jauernik
Simonetta Ferfoglia
Dietmar Koering
Giulio Polita
Erika Skabar
Benjamin Steininger
Dina Suhanova
Our dependence on petroleum has created proliferating problems for society, ranging from environmental degradation to geopolitical conflicts. Our addiction to petroleum impairs our judgment, clouds our vision of the future, and can ultimately lead to our demise. It's time to sober up and start looking for more sustainable alternatives. The widespread use of petroleum-based products, including plastics, synthetic fibres, and fertilizers, has also contributed to the degradation of the environment. The production and disposal of these products lead to pollution and harm wildlife, ecosystems, and human health. The likening of drunkenness to our dependence on petroleum is apt because, like alcohol, our dependence on petroleum has harmful consequences that we often ignore or overlook. Furthermore, the use of petroleum has often led to reckless behaviour by individuals and corporation. The oil industry has caused oil spills, environmental disasters, and human rights violations, demonstrating the high cost of our reliance on this resource.
One of the most visible symbols of our dependence on petroleum is the filling station. These ubiquitous structures have become a fixture of our landscape, providing us with the fuel we need to power our vehicles and keep our world moving. However, as we begin to shift towards alternative forms of energy and transport, the future of the filling station is uncertain. The challenges of finding new uses for these structures and treating the high levels of contamination of the soil underneath are ones that require creativity and innovation. TANKED proposes alternative ideas for the metamorphosis, reuse, and recycling of existing filling stations in and around Vienna. Rather than simply demolishing these structures, TANKED seeks to repurpose them in ways that benefit the community and the environment.
The filling station, an ancient and curious typology, has been a cornerstone of our travels since the dawn of road networks. Even before the advent of oil-driven vehicles, these ports of refuelling, respite, and refreshment have been a vital part of our transportation infrastructure. As we journey from one destination to another, we rely on these stations to provide us with much-needed breaks, a place to refuel our vehicles and ourselves, and even a space to seek shelter and protection from the elements. As transportation technology evolved, so too did filling stations. With the widespread adoption of the automobile in the early 20th century, these stations became critical components of our transportation infrastructure. They not only provided fuel and other essentials for our vehicles but also served as hubs for communication, commerce, and social interaction. The importance of filling stations to our daily lives cannot be overstated. They are a ubiquitous presence in our communities, providing an essential service that keeps our world moving. From the weary traveller looking for a place to rest to the busy commuter seeking a shortcut to avoid traffic. They serve as a reminder of our shared humanity, a place where we can connect with one another and find common ground in the midst of our busy lives.
TANKED is a project that explores the complex journey of Vienna's oil, from the oilfields of the world to the pumps of Viennese filling stations. This journey takes us through a vast network of infrastructure and transport, involving mammoth ultra-large crude carriers, ports, pipelines, and refineries. Understanding this journey is crucial to developing a deeper understanding of the impact that our dependence on petroleum has on the environment and society.
Some of the proposed uses for these structures include the creation of places of decontamination (HEALING GROUND Hanna Thomaseth) water gathering and retaining (AN ARK IN A SEA OF TAR Jasper Knäbel), alternative occupation (SEEKING THE ROOTS Dora Kovacs), and places of recaring(RECARE OF RESISTANCE Philipp Ortinger), restaying (THE STAY Elena Schlüter) and consensual pleasure (QUEER BODIES IN QUEER SPACE Ambrosia Köb). These ideas not only give new life to these structures but also provide tangible benefits to the communities in which they are located. By repurposing these spaces, we can create new opportunities for social interaction and engagement, while also reducing our reliance on petroleum and its products. TANKED offers a glimpse into a future where creativity, innovation and respect for non-human life help address the most pressing challenges facing our planet.
TANKED is a project that seeks to deepen our understanding of the impact of our dependence on petroleum, tracing the journey of Vienna's oil from its source to its consumption at the pump. It also investigates the potential for building with the products of petroleum, with a focus on reuse and recycling. By navigating the complex challenges associated with this approach, TANKED offers a glimpse into a future where our built environment is both regenerative and innovative.
TANKED investigates the potential for building with the products of petroleum. This includes a focus on materials such as plastics and bitumen, which are derived from petroleum. While these materials have been essential in the construction of our built environment, they also pose significant environmental challenges due to their non-biodegradable nature and the energy required to produce them.
TANKED seeks to identify ways in which these materials can be reused and recycled. This involves exploring innovative techniques for repurposing these materials in new and creative ways, as well as developing new recycling technologies that can extract value from waste products. However, the project is also aware of the potential pitfalls of this approach. Building with the products of petroleum carries inherent risks, both in terms of the environmental impact and the potential health risks associated with exposure to these materials. TANKED seeks to navigate these risks carefully, opening the Pandora's box of petroleum products without getting burned.
AN ARK IN A SEA OF TAR – Jasper Knäbel
By removing the water supply, apartment, house, street, and district are connected, living at the source. Project: Management of water, A water field, harvesting by rain + humidity catching, like the fog drinker beetle Namib Desert: it puts up its wings to catch humidity - so too, the wings of the gas station. Processing by UV light and filters, mixing equipment and additives, Storage by tankers, Vienna, has a high air humidity, 5-12l of water per square meter of fog catcher + rainwater 650l per m2 year - 2.5 l per person -Filling station a place of provision, of good accessibility. Working with products already produced. Plastic bottle a multifaceted multitool very interesting element, huge potential in mass. Cars are equipped with these bottles to turn them into tankers, connected to the new grid rendering the battery obsolete, used for necessary bridging of distances or in crisis situations. An ark in a sea of tar
HEALING GROUND – Hanna Thomaseth
What if there is no more oil available? Filling stations are redundant. Plants start breaking through the asphalt, they recapture the place. It becomes a memorial to the petroleum driven world. This is the starting point for the project. An oasis for people and animals on contaminated soil. A wild place, a healthy place, a self-sustaining organism. The whole transformation is a collaboration between nature and humans and goes on over several years. Humans unseal the ground, by lifting it up and creating raised platforms. Plants decontaminate the soil underneath. Humans remove the Phyto-plant, and a new ecosystem is formed with the help of non-human life. The project creates maximum surface for plants to flourish. As much cooling for people. The whole area gets cooler and surrounding green areas richer in diversity. People get calm.
QUEER BODIES IN QUEER SPACE - AMBROSIA KÖB
A place of consensual pleasure. A queer brothel for people, actions, or things that, through the expression of their sexual orientation or gender identity, effect an opening of the socially cisgender heteronormative dominated industry. Unsatisfied sexuality is a complete taboo subject in our society. That is why the importance of this profession should not be underestimated.
The idea is not only to do this in a conceptual sense but also to think about what a queer space could look like. On the inside everything is configured rather openly where mainly slightly transparent curtains function as separating elements. The lying islands located on different levels are covered with cloth - a soft surface texture for intensified feeling as a form of intelligence. The introduction of sensibility through the configuration of space.
Through the transformation, the former filling station does not embed itself in the existing structures of established sex work - it gains a different character - far away from the known and so far away from stigmatization. Through a perspectively changed environment - my attempt of a queer brothel - the meaning of shared intimacy is redefined.
RECARE OF RESISTANCE – Philipp Oltermann
cleaning or care is not much respected in today’s society. Zooming in to the Recare station: Another Material flow…This former filling station, located in the third district in the Oberzellergasse is going to keep its purpose. A recare station for textiles just as it was for the car. car had its skincare routine for its own carrosserie, vacuuming the insides, fed with oil to fill up its stomach. When I looked at the aspect of recaring, nearby the filling station, I found the car workshop in the north and the caritas clothing in the east. Together they form a triangle. Fashion car and care industry then complement each other due to constant material exchange. Each of them has its own material to offer for repair and recare. The filling station the oil tank bodies are redundant because the car is, the car workshop the car bodies and the caritas the fabric bodies. recare station offers a new layer of material flows.
SEEKING THE ROOTS – DORA KOVACS
Corridors of life
I have a strange feeling as I stand here. I try to look behind the yellow mesh that is covering everything, so you can’t tell where the inside starts. What once was filled with life and movement, is still. Finally, as I push my face closer, I see something, I can look inside, the once glorious building is now filled with rubbish and left to decay. The things that get all the attention now are the oil dispenser pumps. These two things are the only reasons for visiting the filling station. No human contact. You come here, fill your vehicle, pay contactless, and go. It seems that all the life has left the building. Or maybe not? Maybe we should try to look more closely until we see the non-human inhabitants. If not, humans make the paths through the building, then what?
THE STAY - Elena Schlüter
What started the project was the first visit to my filling station. The woman working at the filling station called the police because there had been several recent robberies and she thought I looked suspicious. This project transforms the filling station into a positive influence for its environment and neighborhood, a place all about staying, safe for everyone to stay at any time. I started fragmenting the single building parts. I made the first approaches by building models using forms and shapes of existing building parts of my filling station. Here I displayed different outcomes to this transformation, representative for the idea that this space is not finished but should always be open for changes by the people using the space. As part of safety, I experimented with light and shadow situations in the daytime and adding artificial light at nighttime using energy generated during the day.
