Keeping cool with colours, Vienna museum paints asphalt to fight heat
Thanks to his collective's artwork covering the black asphalt with a multitude of bright colours, the ground temperature has dropped from 31 to 20 deg C.
Initiated by the museum showing the private collection of late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten, the project combines creativity, science and urban planning as Europe suffocates under the latest heatwave.
'The childish tones reflect the lightness and inconsistency with which our society addresses this issue' of climate change, Griessler, 25, an artist with the Holla Hoop collective, said.
With more intense, longer and more frequent heatwaves a direct consequence of climate change, according to scientists, European cities are trying to change their urban planning.
Many have been opting for more greenery and also lighter paint that reflects solar rays, trying to avoid dark material, which retains heat.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights
An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues.
Sign Up
Sign Up
'We wanted to slightly improve the quality' of visitors' stays and 'promote awareness', said curator Veronique Abpurg, happy that tourists are 'attracted by this visually pleasing palette'.
While each coloured surface represents a year, they each contain small dots. Each dot represents a billion tonnes of CO2 emissions, and the number of dots on each surface are equivalent to the worldwide emissions of that year.
This way, one can visualise the increase in emissions due to human activity between 1960 and 2000.
'The blocks gradually fill up,' lamented the artist, whose background is in graffiti art.
'It starts with nine dots, and at the end, there are three times more,' he said.
'It's a piece of the mosaic for adapting to urban heatwaves,' said Hans-Peter Hutter, an environmental health specialist at the Medical University of Vienna, who supports the initiative.
A lower temperature on the asphalt means that buildings surrounding the courtyard will need less cooling, reducing air conditioning usage, Hutter said.
'We need to communicate better on the subject (of climate change) so that people don't lose hope' and see adaptation measures as a fun activity, he added. AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business Times
Keeping cool with colours, Vienna museum paints asphalt to fight heat
[VIENNA] Equipped with an infrared thermometer, Austrian artist Jonas Griessler measures the sweltering heat in an inner courtyard in the centre of Vienna. Thanks to his collective's artwork covering the black asphalt with a multitude of bright colours, the ground temperature has dropped from 31 to 20 deg C. Initiated by the museum showing the private collection of late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten, the project combines creativity, science and urban planning as Europe suffocates under the latest heatwave. 'The childish tones reflect the lightness and inconsistency with which our society addresses this issue' of climate change, Griessler, 25, an artist with the Holla Hoop collective, said. With more intense, longer and more frequent heatwaves a direct consequence of climate change, according to scientists, European cities are trying to change their urban planning. Many have been opting for more greenery and also lighter paint that reflects solar rays, trying to avoid dark material, which retains heat. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues. Sign Up Sign Up 'We wanted to slightly improve the quality' of visitors' stays and 'promote awareness', said curator Veronique Abpurg, happy that tourists are 'attracted by this visually pleasing palette'. While each coloured surface represents a year, they each contain small dots. Each dot represents a billion tonnes of CO2 emissions, and the number of dots on each surface are equivalent to the worldwide emissions of that year. This way, one can visualise the increase in emissions due to human activity between 1960 and 2000. 'The blocks gradually fill up,' lamented the artist, whose background is in graffiti art. 'It starts with nine dots, and at the end, there are three times more,' he said. 'It's a piece of the mosaic for adapting to urban heatwaves,' said Hans-Peter Hutter, an environmental health specialist at the Medical University of Vienna, who supports the initiative. A lower temperature on the asphalt means that buildings surrounding the courtyard will need less cooling, reducing air conditioning usage, Hutter said. 'We need to communicate better on the subject (of climate change) so that people don't lose hope' and see adaptation measures as a fun activity, he added. AFP
AsiaOne
09-08-2025
- AsiaOne
Prague zookeepers turn to puppets to parent baby vultures, World News
PRAGUE - Zookeepers feeding two baby vultures in Prague are using a hand puppet designed to look like the chicks' parents, a technique they hope will ensure the birds learn to identify with other vultures - not humans. Staff at Prague Zoo had to start hand-feeding the lesser yellow-headed vultures when their parents stopped nesting. After using the approach with other birds, they quickly made a hand puppet that looks like an adult vulture's head. "If we raised (the bird) in direct contact with humans, it would become imprinted to humans, and then it would be difficult to breed that individual within the species," said Antonin Vaidl, Prague Zoo's curator of bird breeding. Human imprinting increases the risk of a chick struggling to build a relationship with a mate in adulthood. Hand puppets have previously been used with other bird species at the zoo including rhinoceros hornbills and Javan green magpies, with their design reflecting distinctive features such as a large colourful beak. Prague is one of three European zoos to breed the lesser yellow-headed vulture, also known as the savannah vulture. [[nid:708281]]
Straits Times
08-08-2025
- Straits Times
Prague zookeepers turn to puppets to parent baby vultures
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Prague Zoo curator of birds Antonin Vaidl feeds a lesser yellow-headed vulture, which hatched three weeks ago, by using a puppet that imitates a parent bird, at the zoo, in Prague, Czech Republic, August 8, 2025. REUTERS/Eva Korinkova PRAGUE - Zookeepers feeding two baby vultures in Prague are using a hand puppet designed to look like the chicks' parents, a technique they hope will ensure the birds learn to identify with other vultures - not humans. Staff at Prague Zoo had to start hand-feeding the lesser yellow-headed vultures when their parents stopped nesting. After using the approach with other birds, they quickly made a hand puppet that looks like an adult vulture's head. "If we raised (the bird) in direct contact with humans, it would become imprinted to humans, and then it would be difficult to breed that individual within the species," said Antonin Vaidl, Prague Zoo's curator of bird breeding. Human imprinting increases the risk of a chick struggling to build a relationship with a mate in adulthood. Hand puppets have previously been used with other bird species at the zoo including rhinoceros hornbills and Javan green magpies, with their design reflecting distinctive features such as a large colourful beak. Prague is one of three European zoos to breed the lesser yellow-headed vulture, also known as the savannah vulture. REUTERS
