Sigrid Rauchdobler, Postal Distribution Center, 1994. Location: Linz, Austria. Architects: Perotti, Greifeneder & Partner. Installation view at Palazzo Mora, 2016.

Changes:
Newly built rooms radiate the unused perfection; old disused rooms which have been entirely abandoned have the beauty of decay itself.
Rooms in transition have something special; they emit a very unique atmosphere.
The original purpose is still recognizable; the traces of use are still visible.
Human beings left the room; their former presence is still present by the things they left behind.
These rooms are waiting.
The change from one use to the next will be completed, and this intermediate stage ends.
The premises of the postal distribution center in Linz, Austria, were designed by the architects Perotti, Greifeneder & Partner.
Opened in 1994, about 1.7 million letters and 110,000 packages are sorted and distributed daily on a surface area of about 80,000 square meters.
Located by the main train station in Linz, part of the post was transported directly into the basement of the building on a special railway track.
After having been used for twenty years, the most modern postal hub in Europe at the time of opening was replaced with a new mailing center located not far from Linz by the motorway.
Due to the rapid technological development, the transit time of a package has been reduced from thirty minutes down to two minutes.
At the time of shooting, in July 2015, after about a year of standing still, a short-term use of the building was prepared. At the beginning of September 2015, the internationally renowned Ars Electronica Festival took place there under the motto Post City – habitats for the 21st Century.
The following August, further use was defined as transit accommodation for refugees and has been used as such since September.
How long it will have this use is unclear.
The 35,000-square-meter complex, centrally located in the city, has been acquired by a consortium in the meantime.
The transformation proceeds.