’ORTE Architekturnetzwerk Niederösterreich’ annually grants a studio apartment in Krems as well as a scholarship financed by the Federal Province of Lower Austria to artists focusing their work on architecture. ORTE is dedicated to contemporary architecture education and building culture issues in Lower Austria and is interested in practice-related projects. They are looking for concepts that focus on living environments and local interaction, and are less interested in purely theoretical and scientific work or ones that address international phenomena not directly or clearly related to Lower Austria.

The providing of a studio apartment for free as well as the awarding of a scholarship by the Federal Province of Lower Austria are based on the following premises: enabling artists from abroad to work in Austria and to get to know the architectural scene of Lower Austria. A jury of experts selects the applicants to be accepted into the AIR architecture program. Scholarship recipients are required to reside in Krems for a minimum of 80% of the scholarship duration.