Campus WU

The northwest area of the WU campus, which opened in 2013, with the Nazi memorial in the foreground

Library and Learning Center (left), Department 1 and Teaching Center (right)

LC, entrance area

The WU campus is the headquarters of the Vienna University of Economics and Business ( WU is its abbreviation) in the Leopoldstadt district . It is located on the south-western part of the former world exhibition and later exhibition grounds on the northern edge of the Vienna Prater . Some of the WU facilities were built on the site of the rotunda that burned down in 1937 .

On October 1, 2007, the location of the WU campus was decided. The international architectural competition began in June 2008, and the winning projects were announced on December 16, 2008. The overall planning was awarded to the architects collective BUSarchitektur (Vienna) under the direction of Laura P. Spinadel ; five other winners were awarded for the individual components. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 23, 2009, and excavation work began in February 2010. In September 2012 the topping-out of the Library & Learning Center took place. The grand opening of the WU campus took place on October 4, 2013. The cost of the project was 492 million euros.

The property was owned by Wiener Messe GmbH . The property area of the WU campus is 90,000 m², of which 35,000 m² are built-up areas and 55,000 m² are publicly accessible open spaces. The total floor area of all buildings is around 140,000 m². In the open spaces there are 232 trees, 9,900 m² of bushes, perennials and flowers, 1,659 m² of lawns, 720 m of bike paths, 982 bicycle parking spaces and nine drinking fountains.

In May 2012, a fire broke out on the construction site during scarfing work, and the fire hit the two top floors of component W2. In July 2014 and January 2015, an 80 kilogram concrete slab detached itself from the facade of the Library & Learning Center and fell to the ground, nobody was injured in either of the incidents. The cause was an assembly error, the damage amounted to 1.5 million euros. In February 2015, lamps fell from the ceiling in the library's reading area.

Among other things, the campus was used as a location for the films MindGamers (2015), Life Guidance (2017) and Tatort: Schock (2017).

architecture

Six well-known architecture firms from all over the world were hired for the WU campus with the aim of creating world-class architecture. The campus is a branched urban landscape with lots of open spaces based on the model of Anglo-Saxon campus facilities, into which the individual institute buildings are interspersed. It consists of numerous components of different design that do not refer to each other. The area is crossed by a road in an east-west direction and is car-free. There is no central main entrance, but there are entrances to the west and east as well as several smaller entrances towards the green Prater.

The Library & Learning Center (LC) is the heart of the university campus. The cantilevered roof of the building catches the eye from afar, the stylized “monitor” extends as a large glass surface towards the Prater. The external appearance of the building is characterized by a dark and a light structure. The architecture comes from the Zaha Hadid office in Hamburg. The central reception area of the WU is located in the LC. Visitors are received in a spacious atrium, the massive exterior of the building is traversed by ravine-like, narrow "canyons" and divided into two structures. In addition to the library, there are numerous service facilities for students, a bookstore and the two ballrooms of the WU. The LC is open six days a week. The built-up area is around 41,000 m².

D1 & TC: Ernst A. Plischke Prize 2014

The Department 1 and Teaching Center (D1 & TC) delimits the campus in the northeast. The facade is made of COR-TEN steel , a weatherproof structural steel that rusts on the surface and will slowly change color over the years. The facade design is continued inside the building: This material is also used in the auditorium maximum ; it can accommodate 650 students. The design comes from the Austrian architect collective BUSarchitektur from Vienna under the direction of Laura P. Spinadel . This is where the Department of World Trade , several research institutes, 21 lecture halls on six levels, seminar rooms and the cafeteria are located . The built-up area is around 34,000 m².

The Department 2 and Study Center (D2 & SC) consists of two elongated structures with a facade made of superimposed, thin layers. The facade design is inspired by millefeuille (French for a sweet made from layers of puff pastry); it should enable permeability, proximity, privacy and interesting perspectives. The planning comes from the Japanese studio Hitoshi Abe . Between the two components there are small spaces that invite you to linger and meet and each have their own forecourt for the individual departments. The departments for foreign language business communication , information processing , management , marketing and corporate governance as well as a research institute, a bookstore and the library for business languages are located in component D2 ; The sports center with three training rooms and a public kindergarten is located in the SC building. The built-up area is around 23,000 m².

Also, the Department 3 and Administration (D3 & AD) consists of two structures. Like D2, it is bordered in the south by the green Prater. The architecture comes from CRABstudio in London under the direction of Peter Cook . The buildings form several courtyards, passageways, niches, terraces, atriums and open spaces with seating. The upper floors are graded in color by colorful facade bands. Fixed wooden slats made of untreated silver fir are arranged vertically and horizontally, enliven the facade and serve as sun protection; they are a reference to the trees in the adjacent Prater. The departments of public law and corporate law, labor and social law as well as four research institutes and the special library for commercial law are located in building D3 ; WU's administration and rectorate are located in the AD building. The built-up area is around 20,000 m².

Department 4 (D4) is made up of several relatively tall, slim buildings . The facade design and the floor plan of the building play with parallelograms and a dynamic window arrangement, which is also based on a sequence of parallelograms shifted one inside the other. Folding sliding shutters made of perforated aluminum sheet act as sun protection and create a varied façade play. This component was designed by Estudio Carme Pinós from Barcelona. This is where the Finance , Socio-Economics and Economics departments are located , as well as five research institutes and several office spaces. The built-up area is around 16,000 m².

The Executive Academy (EA) building is located at the western entrance to WU as a six-storey, compact tower that follows the design principle of monomateriality. The facade is made of glass and aluminum and is translucent in gradations from opaque to transparent. Sky and nature are reflected in it and integrate the building into the environment. The architecture comes from NO.MAD Arquitectos from Madrid. In addition to the Executive Academy, there are two lecture halls, four seminar rooms as well as office space and a multifunctional event area in the building. The built-up area is around 6,000 m².

The WU campus should actively participate in urban life and also be attractive to the public. The buildings can be visited; there are numerous restaurants and a supermarket.

To commemorate the name Hochschule für Welthandel , which was valid from 1919 to 1975 , a private road created by WU to connect Südportalstrasse and Messestrasse was named by the city administration in consultation with WU Welthandelsplatz . With house number 1 this is the address of the WU at the new location.

LC
LC
LC, detail
LC, interior view
LC, interior view
D1 & TC
D1 & TC
D1 & TC, detail
D2
D3 & AD
D3 & AD, detail
D4
D4, detail
EA
General plan
Location of the WU campus in relation to the 1873 World Exhibition
Memorial to the members of the University for World Trade who were persecuted by the Nazi regime