Rudolf Wurzer

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Rudolf Wurzer (born May 3, 1920 in Mörtschach , Carinthia; † September 2, 2004 in Vienna ) was an Austrian architect . He was a professor at the Technical University of Vienna , where he taught urban planning and spatial planning . As a city ​​councilor for urban planning, he was a member of the Vienna provincial government .

Spatial planner and professor at the Technical University of Vienna

Wurzer began his professional activity in Carinthia, where he was responsible for the urban planning of the rapidly growing traffic junction Villach from 1946 to 1956 and for the spatial planning of the entire state from 1948. In 1954 he and Karl Ernst Newole (1896–1968) founded the “Austrian Society for the Promotion of Regional Research and Regional Planning” and, as chairman of the Camillo Sitte Fund, organized the awarding of the Camillo Sitte Prize for Urban Development.

In 1959 he was appointed professor of spatial planning at the Vienna University of Technology, where he worked until 1991. As a professor, Wurzer was known throughout Europe for his academic rigor, but also for his outstanding lectures and sometimes unusual views.

From 1968 to 1970 he was rector of the Vienna University of Technology.

City councilor for planning in the federal capital Vienna

From 1976 to 1983 Rudolf Wurzer was the leading city councilor for spatial and urban planning in Vienna and headed the planning department . Under his leadership, these departments were involved in the creation of a new Vienna urban development plan, of which little was later implemented. During his term of office, several major projects in Vienna fell, including the Austria Center Vienna conference center on the Danube and the comprehensive flood protection in connection with the Danube Island and the New Danube .

In addition, it attracted international attention through special local planning accents, such as the decisions about the redesign of Karlsplatz after an architectural competition. This culturally and traffic-wise important square has been a recurring topic of discussion for the Viennese since the reconstruction after the Second World War and recently even hindered the architectural effect of its namesake, the Karlskirche with its globally unique ellipsoidal dome.

Around 1980, after an architectural competition under the planning councilor Wurzer, the square was given its new design, not least as the forecourt of his “home university”, which in 1815 was the first establishment of a technical university in Europe. Since then, Karlsplatz has been characterized not only by two museums, the Wiener Musikverein and the Technical University, but also by Moore's large-scale sculpture in a newly created elliptical pond directly in front of the Karlskirche.

In 2001, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of spatial planning, the Rudolf Wurzer Prize was launched by the federal capital and the Vienna University of Technology; Since 2002, the prize, endowed with 10,000 euros, has been awarded every two years for scientific treatises on urban development and spatial planning or for problem-solving concepts that can serve as a model for planning practice.

Rudolf Wurzer was buried in the Grinzinger Friedhof (group 22, row 2, number 18).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ TU Wien: Rectors and Deans ( Memento of the original from March 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved March 26, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tuwien.ac.at
  2. ↑ Rudolf Wurzer's grave site

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wurzer, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian architect and spatial planner
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Mörtschach , Carinthia
DATE OF DEATH September 2, 2004
Place of death Vienna