Vienna International Center
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Vienna International Center International Center Vienna |
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Vienna International Center (view from the east with Kaiserwasser in the foreground) |
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| Basic data | |
| Place: | Vienna |
| Construction time : | 1973-1979 |
| Opening: | 23rd August 1979 |
| Renovation: | Asbestos removal 2004–2013 |
| Status : | built |
| Architect : | Johann Staber |
| Use / legal | |
| Usage : | High-rise office buildings |
| Jobs : | approx. 5000 |
| Owner : | Republic of Austria (65%), City of Vienna (35%) |
| Main tenant: | United Nations |
| Client : | International Office and Conference Center Vienna, AG (IAKW-AG) |
| Technical specifications | |
| Height : | 127 m |
| Height to the top: | 127 m |
| Height to the roof: | 118 m |
| Floors : | 28 |
| Floor area : | 230,000 m² |
| Height comparison | |
| Vienna : | 5. ( list ) |
| Austria : | 5. ( list ) |
| address | |
| City: | Vienna |
| Country: | Austria |
The Vienna International Center ( VIC , German Vienna International Center , often interchangeably as UNO City called) was from 1973 to 1979 by the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna designed by the Austrian architect Johann Staber in Vienna's 22nd district , Donaustadt , as the official residence center established for international organizations.
Austria offered the United Nations (UN) such an international center in 1967; it is the seat of the United Nations Office at Vienna ( UNOV ) and other international organizations. It is rented to the United Nations at a symbolic rent of 7 euro cents (until 2001: 1 shilling ) per year for 99 years. The operating costs are borne by the individual organizations themselves. The institutions of the organizations in the VIC are extraterritorial .
As a further building complex of the UNO-City , the Austria Center Vienna was built between 1983 and 1987 next to the International Center VIC . It is Austria's largest congress center, in which all kinds of events can be held. Around the complex, which has been accessible with the U1 underground line since September 1982, a new district called Donau City was built between the Old Danube and the New Danube by the year 2000 .
architecture
The construction of the International Center was preceded by a competition that the Argentine architect César Pelli won in 1969 . The second and third prizes went to England and Germany, the Austrian Johann Staber was fourth. After revising the four best projects on behalf of the international jury chaired by Roland Rainer , the Kreisky I federal government , an SPÖ minority government, decided in December 1970 to carry out the Staber project, which resulted in violent protests by the ÖVP opposition and an investigative committee of the National Council , but did not change the decision.
The facility is built on an area of 17 hectares (the land was provided by the City of Vienna) and consists of six office towers with the distinctive Y-shaped floor plan, which are arranged in pairs around a central, round conference building. The layout of the facility is based on an imaginary honeycomb structure (hexagons) in which the buildings are arranged in such a way that they shade each other as little as possible. Staber had originally developed planning variants that went beyond six towers, which would have continued the hexagonal pattern.
The total floor area is around 230,000 square meters, with the tallest tower (“A”) having 28 floors and a height of 120 meters. The buildings are decorated with works of art by Austrian artists; The sculpture Polis by Joannis Avramidis stands on the plaza .
Asbestos removal
From 2004 the VIC was refurbished to dispose of the asbestos used in construction . In the first phase, 2004–2007, the office buildings A, B, D and E, and in the second phase, 2007–2010, the buildings F and G were renovated. Finally, in 2009–2013, building C (the central rotunda with the conference halls) was cleaned of asbestos. The prerequisite for this was the construction of a new VIC conference building (Building M), which was completed in 2009 according to plans by the Austrian architect Albert Wimmer . The new building, which can be variably subdivided inside, served as a replacement for the existing conference wing during the renovation and is now expanding its capacities.
Organizations in the VIC
When the Federal Government Klaus II , an ÖVP sole government, offered the United Nations the establishment of the Office Seat Center in 1967, the IAEA (since 1957) and the UNIDO (since 1967) were already in Vienna. They resided in adapted or temporary buildings in the ring road zone in the city center. Today the VIC employs around 5000 people who work for the following organizations, among others.
United Nations Office in Vienna
The Vienna International Center , along with the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) , is one of four official offices of the United Nations alongside New York ( UNHQ ), Geneva ( UNOG ) and Nairobi ( UNON ) . The UNOV was put into operation on January 1st, 1980 as the third location of the UN Secretariat and has been headed by the Egyptian Ghada Waly since February 2020 .
United Nations
- UNODC - United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention
- UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization; since 1967 in Vienna
- UNOOSA - United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
- UNCITRAL - United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
- UNODA - United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs
- UNHCR - United Nations Commissioner for Refugees with offices in Vienna and Berlin and headquarters in Geneva
Other organizations
- International Atomic Energy Organization , in Vienna since 1957
- Organization of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty - Preparatory Commission for the Organization of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
- International Commission for the Protection of the Danube - Commission for the Protection of the Danube
Post office
The VIC has the address 22nd, Wagramer Straße 5 and geographically belongs to the 22nd district of Vienna . The post office in the VIC has its own postcode 1400 Vienna.
safety
The Security and Safety Service (SSS) is responsible for security, property protection and housekeeping on the extra-territorial site. Legally, it is to be equated with a kind of police , since sovereign tasks are exercised and sovereign rights are implemented.
UN City
In addition to the buildings of the Vienna International Center (VIC) , the overall complex of the UNO-City also includes the Austria Center Vienna, which was built later (see below ), which is not part of the facilities of the organizations located in the VIC, but of these if necessary (for large conferences ) is being used.
administration
The Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna have outsourced the financing, construction, maintenance and administration of the UNO-City with the VIC and the ACV to the International Headquarters and Conference Center Vienna, Aktiengesellschaft (IAKW-AG). The Republic holds 65%, the City of Vienna 35% of the share capital of this stock corporation.
Transport links
The system is connected to the public transport network of the City of Vienna primarily through the Kaisermühlen - Vienna International Center station, which opened on September 3, 1982, on the U1 line that was extended to Kagran on that day . There are also four bus routes that connect with neighboring residential areas. In the motorway network, the VIC can be reached via the Reichsbrücke and VIC junctions on the A22 Danube bank motorway. From the city center, the access leads across the 2nd district with Praterstrasse, Praterstern , Lassallestrasse and Reichsbrücke across the Danube, practically dead straight to Wagramer Strasse.
guides
The United Nations Visitor Service in Vienna offers guided tours through the Vienna International Center Monday to Friday.
Economic importance for Vienna
The UNO-City has developed into a major economic factor for Vienna. In addition to the permanent staff of the organizations who live here, meetings and conferences have created a considerable tourism effect. While almost 1000 smaller and larger conferences were held in the UNO City around 2005, the figure was around 2000 in 2010. For 2015 around 3000 meetings were forecast. (The congresses in the Austria Center Vienna , see below, are not included in these figures. Vienna is one of the cities in the world with the most international conferences.)
Commissary
The shop in the UNO-City, called Commissary , which is only accessible to employees of international organizations and diplomatic missions in Vienna (and partly their relatives) and whose offer is aimed at international clients, enjoys a certain degree of awareness . It is run on a non-profit basis by the IAEA , whose workforce makes up around half of the entire UN city. Internally, the cheap sale of spirits and tobacco products , since they are exempt from Austrian taxes, is controversial . For these goods, there is a certain quota per quarter for each entitled person, depending on their rank. In addition, there is a range of branded products in the perfumery that are considerably cheaper than in the “outside world” in Vienna. For Austrian nationals who are in the service of an organization based in the VIC, there are significantly more restrictive provisions regarding the purchase of said tax-free goods due to agreements between the UN and the Republic of Austria.
The commissary cannot be entered by visitors (conference participants, private visitors from employees, etc.). Regarding the origin of the term: Commissary refers to similar shops in the US armed forces, in which soldiers stationed abroad can purchase "familiar" products that are not available at the station.
Austria Center Vienna as a neighbor of the VIC
In 1983–1987, the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) congress center was built on the site between Donaupark and the directly adjacent VIC, which had been kept free at the beginning of the planning . Originally, the Federal Government and the City of Vienna planned to call it the Austrian Conference Center (Austrian in contrast to the international conference rooms of the VIC ), but for marketing reasons it was opened as the Austria Center Vienna .
The Austria Center Vienna is also based on plans by Johann Staber, but does not have the Y-structure of the VIC building complex . It is Austria's largest congress center and can accommodate up to 20,000 conference participants. It is also occasionally rented for meetings by the users of the Vienna International Center when there is not enough space in the VIC's own halls. There is an internal connection to the VIC, with transition areas being controlled by UN security personnel.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ IAKW Financing Act of April 27, 1972, Federal Law Gazette No. 150/1972, in the current version (seven amendments up to 2008)
- ↑ a b Note: In addition to the Vienna International Center (VIC) , the Austria Center Vienna (ACV) also belongs to the UNO-City complex .
- ↑ https://www.unov.org/unov/de/management_sss.html
- ↑ profile extra. Supplement to the weekly profile , June 15, 2009.
- ↑ The Vienna UN City. In: APA historically. Contemporary history online, dossier on August 23, 1979. Published by the Austria Press Agency , accessed on April 19, 2019.
- ↑ Asbestos removal in the Vienna International Center is making progress. Published by the United Nations Information Service, Vienna.
- ↑ http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/eds-corner/biography.html accessed on July 5, 2020
- ↑ unov.org
- ↑ unis.unvienna.org: VISIT THE UN IN VIENNA
- ↑ 25 years of the UN City. Publication by the City of Vienna (Ed.), August 2004. (Originally as a PDF on the City of Vienna website, wien.gv.at.)
Web links
Coordinates: 48 ° 14 ′ 5 ″ N , 16 ° 25 ′ 1 ″ E