Vienna Climate Biennale 2026 – Temporary Sculpture on the Badeschiff
For the Vienna Climate Biennale and the five-day presentation at the Badeschiff, about eighty art students from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and the University of Applied Arts created artworks that focused on the climate crisis.
The art project by Sebastian Haaf and Carl Theodor Seegers—a chimney made of stacked steel barrels—stood on the upper deck of the Badeschiff.
Symbolizing industrial emissions and their impact on the environment and people, smoke regularly rose from the chimney opening, reinforcing this effect.
For the environmental sculpture, five barrels (steel lidded barrels, 210 liters each, coated on the outside, raw on the inside) were stacked on top of one another, forming a chimney.
There was no additional anchoring, so the connections between the barrels had to be able to transfer all forces encountered—particularly bending moments caused by wind.
The bottom barrel was sufficiently weighted (with water), thereby adequately securing the entire structure against tilting.
Since 2024, the Vienna Climate Biennale has been organized every two years by KunstHausWien to find solutions to the climate crisis. Through exhibitions in public spaces and as part of a festival program, the biennale brings together current perspectives from the fields of contemporary art, design, architecture, and science that point the way toward an ecological balance in line with economy and prosperity.
For more information on the 2026 Climate Biennale (April 9 – May 10, 2026), please visit:
Photos: werkraum ingenieure
Graphic Design: Sebastian Haaf, Carl Theodor Seegers