Danube City
The Donau City is a new district built in 1996 in the 22nd district of Vienna , Donaustadt . It is characterized by numerous high-rise buildings, some of which are among the tallest in Austria . The buildings are mainly used for offices and apartments. The district is located right next to the Reichsbrücke and is the district closest to the city center on the left bank of the Danube .
history
Floodplain and Bretteldorf
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The Danube is inextricably linked with the history of Vienna , but for centuries ran outside the city and acted as a traffic route as well as a traffic obstacle. The numerous floods of the unregulated river did not make it appear advisable to erect important buildings directly on the water, in the flat Danube floodplains or on the islands formed by the river. Bridges were mostly made of wood and often had to be rebuilt after floods.
The Danube regulation from 1870 to 1875 made the area of the Danube City flood-proof with the newly created Hubertusdamm, which separated the hinterland from the floodplain parallel to the new main river. The previous main stream was called the old Danube to the standing water . On the area, however, there was an oxbow lake, Kaiserwasser, which still exists south of Wagramer Strasse, and floodplain landscapes that were initially not in demand as building land. In 1935 the city of Vienna acquired this area from Klosterneuburg Abbey. Parts of the area served between the World Wars and afterwards as a dung deposit , other parts were settled with allotment gardens . The poor construction quality of the huts built in times of need led to the name Bretteldorf . The lease contracts of the around 1000 inhabitants of this area were gradually canceled by the city until the 1960s. In return, this expanded the landfill.
The 1964 garden show was the initial spark
The clearing of the site (the former landfill was only superficially renovated) and the holding of the Vienna International Garden Show 1964 ( WIG 64 ) on part of the site marked the beginning of all further urban development investments. The Danube Tower , built in 1962, became the area's landmark; Most of the garden show grounds have been preserved to this day as the so-called Danube Park . Urban development was planned for the strip of land along Wagramer Strasse, Vienna's most important arterial road to the north-east, without any concrete projects being available at the time.
The area is being upgraded
This changed when Austria promised the United Nations (UN) an official headquarters in Vienna in 1967 . The so-called Vienna International Center (VIC) , part of the UNO-City , was finally built from 1973 between the reduced Danube Park and Wagramer Straße and opened in August 1979. In terms of size, the VIC buildings set a new, metropolitan scale for their surroundings, which until then had the character of the outskirts.
The collapse of the second Reichsbrücke in 1976 should mean an additional upgrade of the area. In the box girder of the bridge, which was rebuilt by 1980, an underground line was now also planned. The U1 line reached the northern bank of the Danube in 1982 - earlier than originally planned. Since then, the city center can be reached in a few minutes via the Kaisermühlen - Vienna International Center station. 1972–1988 the Danube in the Vienna area was regulated again in order to remove remaining flood hazards. In addition to the area of today's Danube City, the New Danube , a mostly stagnant body of water that was suitable for recreational use, and the Danube Island between the New Danube and the main stream, which, according to the decision of the city administration, were not built, but also for recreational use , were created parallel to the main stream should be ready. In 1987 the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) congress center, financed by the state and the city administration, was opened as the second part of the UN City, alongside the Vienna International Center (VIC) .
No Expo 1995
At the end of the 1980s, Vienna and Budapest considered hosting a world exhibition in 1995 . On December 14, 1989, the contract was awarded for this project. The Expo 95 should therefore take place from April 29th to October 26th 1995. The area "Danube Region - Conference Center" (approx. 50 ha) was defined as the exhibition area. The subsequent use of the then still contaminated and alluvial piece of land was determined to be a decisive factor in the Expo planning. Following the world exhibition, the site should be fully integrated into the given city structure. On March 30, 1990, a key program for urban development was adopted. The design of the exhibition grounds should be based on an architectural competition organized by Expo-Vienna AG (founded in 1989). Temporary structures of larger dimensions should be avoided. The competition “Building and design concepts EXPO 95 in Vienna and subsequent use” was held until the end of 1990. Architects from Austria, Hungary and selected international architecture firms were eligible to participate, and students were also invited to take part. The project by Sepp Frank and Rudolf Zabrana was selected from a total of 84 projects (65 by architects and 19 by graduates) . Contrary to the original plans to seal the former landfill with a plate, it was finally completely excavated. This accompanying measure of the Expo preparations comprised the excavation of a total of around 965,000 tons of material, 240,000 tons of which was household waste from the post-war period up to 1963/64. In the course of a referendum carried out for political reasons from May 14 to 16, 1991, 64.85% of those questioned spoke out against holding the Expo, despite broad support from politics, the media and business circles. As a result, the Republic of Austria withdrew the application for the location in Vienna at the general assembly of the BIE on June 5, 1991.
A new district is emerging
After the cancellation of the Expo, efforts were made to make the unused, but already under renovation, area ready for construction and to develop it. To this end, the WED Wiener Entwicklungsgesellschaft für den Donauraum AG was founded in 1991 . In the early 1990s, the architects Adolf Krischanitz and Heinz Neumann were commissioned with a master plan for a new, multifunctional district on the open area (which was separated from the originally larger Danube Park) between VIC, ACV and Hubertusdamm and Neuer Donau . The WED chose the name Donau City for this . Already in the course of the planning for the world exhibition, consideration had been given to roofing over the Danube bank motorway A22 in the area of the VIC, also with a view to a later re-use of the site.
This project was adhered to and the autobahn was paved over a section of 2,150 m by 1996. The resulting Kaisermühlen tunnel is now the most heavily traveled tunnel in Austria. The covering of the Danube bank motorway was conceived as a foundation for future development. For this purpose, a 2.2 meter high box girder was built above the tunnel's driving area, which can accommodate cellar compartments and technical rooms in future new buildings, for example. The technical systems required for motorway operation, on the other hand, are primarily located in the side collectors.
In order to compensate for the enormous differences in level that have now arisen (after the excavation of the former landfill, the ground was nine meters below the level of the surrounding area), the new district was also provided with such a structure (the so-called Danube plate). Different levels are provided for car and pedestrian traffic. In 1993, the construction of the infrastructure for future use began. The foundation stone for the first building, the Andromeda Tower , was laid in 1995. As a technical prerequisite for the main development of the area, a distribution structure running parallel to the motorway was completed in 1996, which opens up all building sites. The level concept is still valid today, but the original master plan was not pursued any further. After completion of almost two thirds of the overall planning, around 1.7 million cubic meters were built here by 2005 ; this corresponds to a gross floor area of around 500,000 square meters .
In 2002 WED launched an international design competition for the last section to be developed. The architect Dominique Perrault from Paris was awarded the contract in this appraisal procedure . He was then commissioned to draw up a master plan for the area. Based on these plans, an urban development model was drawn up and approved by the local council on July 1, 2004 . In contrast to previous projects at the site, a mixed use was prescribed here. Perrault designed the two DC Towers as a " bridgehead " as a built entrance gate for the district.
After Tower 1 opened in February 2014, the three high-rise towers Danube Flats , DC Tower 2 and DC Tower 3 were supposed to complete the skyline in the following years . However, the time horizon for these construction projects has always been postponed in recent years. The building data of the objects created or projected in Donau City can be found in the table below.
The area on the banks of the Danube in front of the district has been redesigned since 2018. This work was preceded by a long-term legal dispute between the City of Vienna and the former general tenant over permits and conditions. The shore area was known in the 1980s under the name "Copa Cagrana" and is now marketed as "Copa Beach".
The area on historical plans
- 1912: In with columns bunch designated floodplain area, the find America paints and Stuwers laboratory (for pyrotechnics ). Today's Brigittenauer Bridge is already entered as a project on the city map.
- Around 1930: Part of the Kaiserwasser is still on the site north of Wagramer Straße. Kapellenaustraße , Bretteldorfer Gasse and more than a dozen other streets lead through the settlement area . A garbage dump site is listed where the Danube Tower and the driveway to the Brigittenauer Bridge are today. The former laboratory is now registered as the Sirius Pyrotechnic Factory .
- Around 1960: The northern part of the allotment garden no longer exists. The Clemens-Krauss -Park is located next to the Reichsbrücke, opposite the junction from Schüttaustraße . The Brigittenauer Brücke is no longer visible as a project.
- 1976/1977: The Danube Park is as it is today. At today's corner Donau-City-Straße / Marcel-Prawy -Promenade the 1964 built, 1966 as a skating rink decorated and 1991 demolished Donauparkhalle to find. The area directly on Wagramer Straße is empty. The new Reichsbrücke is under construction, to the north of it temporary bridges for trams and cars cross the Danube. The road that delimits the floodplain is called Am Hubertusdamm.
- 1983/1984: The Vienna International Center is adjacent, the Austria Center Vienna , which was added later as the second part of the UN City , is only to be found as a building site. The Donauparkhalle is still there. The U1 already opens up the area and has replaced the previous tram lines on Wagramer Straße. The Brigittenau Bridge has now been built. The Donauuferautobahn is still under construction in the area of today's Donau City.
Development of the Donau City
Developer company
The owner of the 18.5 hectare site and responsible for the overall development is the WED Wiener Entwicklungsgesellschaft für den Donauraum AG , which emerged from Expo-Vienna AG in 1991, and which in addition to the main shareholder Bank Austria originally also owned Erste Bank , Raiffeisen Zentralbank , BAWAG PSK , Investkredit Bank AG of the Volksbank Group , UNIQA and the Vienna Insurance Group (formerly Wiener Städtische) were involved. Bank Austria has been the sole owner of WED Holding AG since the beginning of 2016; WED itself now operates as a GmbH .
The original Expo-Vienna AG was entered in the commercial register in August 1989 . At that time, the federal government and the State of Vienna were equally involved.
Level concept
The Danube City is characterized by the so-called Danube plate . Your care is organized on several levels.
Level 0 is reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. It is completely car-free, but can be reached by emergency vehicles. Level minus 1 serves as the media level. With the exception of the sewer, the entire technical infrastructure (district heating, water, electricity, telecommunications) is managed in this accessible distributor. The technical floors of the individual buildings also connect to the central collector structure on this level. The garages of the objects are again on levels minus 2 and minus 3.
Motorized individual traffic reaches the parking spaces via level minus 3, which corresponds to the basic level of the surrounding area. The two streets below the complex are named Leonard-Bernstein-Straße and Donau-City-Straße. Most of them are enclosed and connected to both Wagramer Strasse and the Danube bank A22 motorway. There are two connection points to the latter. ( Reichsbrücke and Vienna International Center , which is also listed in plans as the IAKW for the Vienna International Office and Conference Center ) The A22 is also routed in an enclosure ( Kaisermühlen tunnel ) in the Donau City area. For this reason, all interconnections, crossings, entrances and exits with parallel distribution lanes also had to be carried out entirely in the tunnel for the first time. A complex road system was created, which was equipped with extensive safety technology along its entire length. The traffic information system includes variable signposts and variable message signs, traffic lights and lane signals.
Urban development criticism
The urban planning concept of Donau City is not considered to have been completely successful. The lack of wind comfort near the ground is particularly criticized, as the increased wind load on the Danube bank is further intensified by the location of the high-rise buildings. According to a study carried out on behalf of WED, the comfort threshold of 20 kilometers per hour is exceeded in sections on 120 days a year.
The city district is also considered to be not very busy, which - in addition to the above-mentioned wind problem - is attributed to the separated location, the monofunctional buildings and the lack of use of the ground floor zones. There are therefore always efforts to increase the attractiveness of the Danube plate.
Chronological overview of the buildings
| building | height | start of building | End of construction | Architect (s) | use | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andromeda Tower | 113 meters | 1996 | 1998 | Wilhelm Holzbauer | offices |
|
| Elementary school | 1996 | 1999 | Hans Hollein | Elementary school of the city of Vienna | ||
| Donau City residential park | 1996 | 2000 | Eric Steiner (stairs 1,2) Delugan Meissl (stairs 3,4,5) Michael Loudon (stairs 6,7) Margarete Cufer & Partner (stairs 8,9,10) |
Apartments | ||
| Bank Austria building | 1997 | 2000 | Paolo Piva | Trade, gastronomy | ||
| Mischek Tower | 110 meters | 1998 | 2000 | Delugan Meissl | Apartments |
|
| Donaucity Church | 1999 | 2000 | Heinz Tesar | Roman Catholic Church |
|
|
| Ares Tower | 100 meters | 1999 | 2001 | Heinz Neumann | offices |
|
| High-rise Neue Donau with residential park Neue Donau 1 | 150 meters | 1999 | 2002 | Harry Seidler | Apartments, offices, day care center |
|
| Tech Gate Vienna / Tech Gate Tower | 75 meters | 1999 | 2005 | Sepp Frank , Wilhelm Holzbauer | Science and technology institutions |
|
| STRABAG house | 45 meters | 2001 | 2003 | Ernst Hoffmann | offices |
|
| Saturn Tower | 95 meters | 2003 | 2004 | Heinz Neumann, Hans Hollein | offices |
|
| DC Tower 1 | 220 meters | 2010 | 2013 | Dominique Perrault | Offices, hotel |
|
| DC Living | 60 meters | 2013 | 2015 | Baumschlager Hutter Partners | Apartments | |
| DC Tower 3 | 100 meters | open | open | Dietrich Untertrifaller | not yet known | |
| Danube Flats 1 | 145 meters | open | open | project A01 | Apartments | |
| DC Tower 2 | 168 meters | open | open | Dominique Perrault | not yet known |
Web links
- Donau City website
- Official information on the development of Donau City
- Final report on Expo 1995 in Vienna and Budapest with information on the development of the area
Individual evidence
- ↑ Note: The Danube Tower, the Vienna International Center and the Neue Donau skyscraper are not part of Donau City .
- ^ A new demolition in Bretteldorf. In: Illustrierte Kronen-Zeitung , No. 13639/1938 (XXXIXth year), January 8, 1938, p. 6. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ a b c bmb.gv.at - Up high - high-rise construction and urban development, accessed on May 26, 2017
- ↑ Expo final report, p. 13
- ^ Expo final report, p. 65
- ↑ Expo final report, p. 69
- ↑ Expo final report, p. 29
- ↑ wien.gv.at; Donau City - History accessed on May 31, 2017
- ^ Expo final report, p. 46
- ↑ Expo final report, p. 49
- ↑ a b The time of dreams is over from June 14, 1997
- ↑ Expo final report, p. 13
- ↑ a b wien.gv.at; Overplating A22 - Donauuferautobahn accessed on May 27, 2017
- ↑ City of Vienna brochure on Donau City , accessed on May 26, 2017.
- ↑ Note: The IZD Tower , the Vienna International Center (VIC) , the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) (to the right of the VIC; not visible in the picture because it is covered by the Saturn Tower ) and the Neue Donau skyscraper are not part of Donau City .
- ↑ a b Dietrich Untertrifaller Architects - DC 3 Tower , accessed on May 15, 2017.
- ↑ What does the city get from the DC Tower? dated February 26, 2014
- ↑ Copa Cagrana: Concept for redesign is in place, construction start 2017 on March 17, 2016
- ↑ The million dollar conversion of the Copa Cagrana started on January 17, 2018
- ↑ ORF Online: Copa-Cagrana-Lächter wants 3.5 million website of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), accessed on October 13, 2014.
- ↑ Plan von Wien, supplement to Lehmann's general housing advertisement from Vienna for 1912, Kartographische Anstalt Th. Bannwart, Verlag Alfred Hölder, kuk court and university bookseller, Vienna
- ↑ Plan of the 2nd district of Vienna, Leopoldstadt, Cartographic Institute, formerly Military Geographic Institute, Vienna approx. 1930
- ↑ Freytag-Berndt: Vienna general plan, Kartographische Anstalt Freytag-Berndt u. Artaria, Vienna 1961
- ^ Freytag & Berndt: Großer Buchplan Wien, geografa Verlags- und Vertriebsgesellschaft, Vienna 1976, ISBN 3-85084-001-8
- ↑ Freytag & Berndt: Book Vienna plan 1983/84, Freytag-Berndt u. Artaria, Kartographische Anstalt, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-85084-001-8
- ↑ Bank Austria takes over 100% of the DC Tower on January 26, 2016
- ↑ bwb.gv.at - Merger notification UniCredit Bank Austria AG and WED Holding Gesellschaft mb H accessed on May 27, 2017
- ^ Vienna DC - company profile , accessed on May 27, 2017.
- ^ Expo final report, p. 21
- ↑ wien.gv.at; Donau City - Infrastructure and Transport, accessed on May 27, 2017
- ↑ Gone with the Wind in Donaucity on March 26, 2007
- ↑ Donaucity: Liven up the record? To let something grow! dated March 7, 2008
- ^ Donau City: "Helpless Gestures" To be continued on June 30, 2015
- ↑ wien.gv.at; Donau City - Projects accessed on May 30, 2017
- ^ Wohnpark Donau City - Architects , accessed on May 30, 2017.
Coordinates: 48 ° 14 ′ 4 " N , 16 ° 24 ′ 55" E