Francesco Biccheri: Feuermauern. The City Jumps

FEUERMAUERN. THE CITY JUMPS is a photographic and typological study focusing on a frequently overlooked urban element of Vienna: firewalls.

The city constantly grows, changes, evolves. Different historical phases coexist within a single urban fabric. Humans plan, control, trace lines that define present and future boundaries and heights of the built environment. The aim is to overwrite, juxtapose, erase or align the various urban parts. In historically dense cities like Vienna, however, it is difficult to define all the relationships between individual parts and the entirety of the urban landscape. This generates grey areas, misalignments, conflicts, frictions. Empty vertical surfaces, without windows, highlight these discrepancies.
These blind facades in Vienna are known as “Feuermauern”.
Introduced relatively recently as a fire-prevention measure, they are designed to avoid the spread of fire, heat, and smoke from one building to another and must now meet strict regulatory requirements. However, they are not to be seen as mere technical devices. They are visible signs of the continuous evolution of our cities. Blank canvases. Rather than going unnoticed, hidden or covered by advertisements they might provide new ways of interacting with the surrounding city. They could be spaces of collectivity, cultural showcases, open-air cinemas, climbing walls, or simply create moments of wonder when experiencing the city.

FRANCESCO BICCHERI is an architect and architectural photographer based in Vienna. He focuses on the relationships and constant conflicts between the various elements of the deeply anthropised urban environment. The ever-changing city, its building sites and the people who contribute to this change on a daily basis are his main sources of inspiration.