“It is an unusual room,” says my contact at the Pixel-Hotel in Linz.
I’m a little flustered having missed a bus connection from the airport and then losing my way in the evening drizzle.
I collapse onto an uncomfortable wire chair as she demonstrates keys and lights. “Don’t forget the cloakroom is in the industrial elevator,” she says. “Bye!”
Linz, in Northern Austria, is 2009’s European Capital of Culture. PixelHotel is a project running in tandem with the city’s moment in the spotlight, converting a cluster of urban spaces into unusual accommodations. There are more conventional hotels in Linz, but given the choice why not stay in a garage, or an art gallery or even a tugboat?
The Pixel im Hof is a former workshop & garage set around a courtyard dating back to the 18th century. A square low double bed is pressed against one wall and a green mosaic bathroom lies tucked around the corner. To complete the scene, parked at the bottom of the bed, is a 1960s caravan.
The caravan retains the musty smell of an old-fashioned holiday. I feel as if I am stepping back into my childhood with its concealed cupboards and squeaky-hinged bedding. The only nod to the caravan’s post-modern life is an espresso machine and minibar. I bounce on the seat and decades of dust dance around me.
A wall of lights runs behind the caravan; three rows of 12 white bulbs set behind a screen. Each bulb has its own switch for guests to suit their mood. There is a television in the corner, but why watch TV when you can create light sculptures or drink beer in a caravan?
It doesn’t stop raining for a single second during my time in Linz, but hunger eventually drives me out and I find a vegetarian restaurant; a totally unexpected discovery. I check with the waitress that the bratwurst is really vegetarian. “Yes,” she says, after a pause, “this is a vegetarian restaurant”. I blush and eat.
I walk home past the Mozarthaus where a bust of the composer guards a buttonpress which erupts with the opening adagio of the Linzer Symphony. I cross back to the main square, circle the plague column and cross the Danube. The rain defeats me and I scurry back to the Pixel-Hotel; a bottle of Grüner Veltliner tucked under my arm.
For breakfast there is a folder containing three things; a voucher, a local café list and a map. There’s no room service, of course, because there’s no room; just a former workshop with a caravan parked at the bottom of the bed.
Linz, in Northern Austria, is 2009’s European Capital of Culture. PixelHotel is a project running in tandem with the city’s moment in the spotlight, converting a cluster of urban spaces into unusual accommodations. There are more conventional hotels in Linz, but given the choice why not stay in a garage, or an art gallery or even a tugboat?
The Pixel im Hof is a former workshop & garage set around a courtyard dating back to the 18th century. A square low double bed is pressed against one wall and a green mosaic bathroom lies tucked around the corner. To complete the scene, parked at the bottom of the bed, is a 1960s caravan.
The caravan retains the musty smell of an old-fashioned holiday. I feel as if I am stepping back into my childhood with its concealed cupboards and squeaky-hinged bedding. The only nod to the caravan’s post-modern life is an espresso machine and minibar. I bounce on the seat and decades of dust dance around me.
A wall of lights runs behind the caravan; three rows of 12 white bulbs set behind a screen. Each bulb has its own switch for guests to suit their mood. There is a television in the corner, but why watch TV when you can create light sculptures or drink beer in a caravan?
It doesn’t stop raining for a single second during my time in Linz, but hunger eventually drives me out and I find a vegetarian restaurant; a totally unexpected discovery. I check with the waitress that the bratwurst is really vegetarian. “Yes,” she says, after a pause, “this is a vegetarian restaurant”. I blush and eat.
I walk home past the Mozarthaus where a bust of the composer guards a buttonpress which erupts with the opening adagio of the Linzer Symphony. I cross back to the main square, circle the plague column and cross the Danube. The rain defeats me and I scurry back to the Pixel-Hotel; a bottle of Grüner Veltliner tucked under my arm.
For breakfast there is a folder containing three things; a voucher, a local café list and a map. There’s no room service, of course, because there’s no room; just a former workshop with a caravan parked at the bottom of the bed.
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