The quote “At every point it is understanding that opens up a world” by Wilhelm Dilthey is written with sandblasted dots on a 28-meter-long glass wall situated between the entrance area and the gym of the elementary school in Satteins, Austria. The sentence is placed round the corner as well as mirror-inverted, so that it can be read from all different points of view.
Every year, colored, translucent, self-adhesive dots with the names and the starting years of the new pupils are placed on the sandblasted dots. Thereby the kids identify themselves with the design — they become a part of the school right from the start and “their” dots form an ever-changing, growing and colorful image of the school history over the years.
The project, designed in cooperation with
Verena Petrasch, won a Silver Trophy at the
Joseph Binder Award 2010, is a winner of the
TDC 57 Award 2011 (Type Directors Club, New York, USA) and has been nominated for the
German Designprize 2012. The architecture of the school was created by
HEIN-TROY architects & Thurnher ZT.