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New Urban Qualities: Using Buildings as Building Blocks

Linz has undergone a lasting transformation also in terms of overdue construction projects, the make-over of urban spaces and investments in the city’s infrastructure, both as regards hotels and other infrastructural projects. In most cases these projects were initiated and financed by the City of Linz and/or the Province of Upper Austria, but there was also scope for private investors. Up until 2009, Linz’s skyline was dominated by building cranes.

New buildings, such as TerminalTower, the new seat of the Linz branch of the Ministry of Finance and of Pensionsversicherungsanstalt, Wissensturm Linz, the new home of the City Library and Linz’s Adult Education Centre, the new headquarters of Energie AG, and the in-depth adaptation of the headquarters of Upper Austria’s Labour Chamber have made a significant contribution to the rehabilitation and attractivity of the precinct that used to be dominated by the railway station. On the north embankment of the Danube the revamped Ars Electronica Center rises in its new glory. A generously dimensioned and stylish annex has redefined the space between AEC, Stadtwerkstatt and the parish church of Urfahr on the one hand and the Danube on the other.

The new South Wing of Schlossmuseum Linz, which towers above the old part of the city, must be considered one of the most interesting architectural achievements of recent years in the city. With the building’s old substance it maintains an interesting dialogue, which alternates between affirmation and contradiction. The International Atelierhaus Salzamt in Obere Donaulände, the product of a painstaking renovation of the Salzamt, the ancient Salt Authority, was opened in summer 2009 and offers both local artists and artists from abroad residential and studio facilities for a limited time plus the opportunity to show their works in an exhibition organised on the spot. One of the houses that Johannes Kepler used to live in, the one in Rathausgasse, was completely revamped and now houses KEPLER SALON.

Underground car parks have made it possible to banish cars from Promenade and Pfarrplatz; the greenery in front of Landhaus has been adapted to the new situation; and after its makeover Landhaus now features a modern Citizens’ Advice Bureau. At Offenes Kulturhaus OÖ the makeover of the lobby has provided the building with a new interface for outside and inside to get to terms with each other. It has also found an elegant solution for how visitors make their way from the Moviemento cinema in the basement to the exhibition areas upstairs. The ever busy Solaris is a most welcome addition to the city’s restaurant scence. The square in front of the house, which had been deliberately styled as waste land for a long time, can now be put to multiple use and invites people to linger. Austria’s largest church, St Mary’s, has also had its immediate surroundings put in order. The open space around it has now truly come into its own and is bordered towards Herrengasse by the stylish Domhotel and by attractive restaurants.

Park Inn at Hessenplatz and Harry’s Home are new additions to Linz’s hotel landscape. Spitz Hotel was subjected to a total revamp. Prielmayerhof and Wolfinger, one of Linz’s longest established hotels, both increased the numbers of rooms available. This list of construction work could be continued with such projoects as the enlarged Landesbibliothek, the revamped facade and forecourt of the Nordico, the extension of Pöstlingbergbahn to Hauptplatz, voestalpine Stahlwelt, the Science Park of the Johannes Kepler Universität Linz, surface work at Urfahr Market and at Hessenplatz. Linz’s Music Theatre is still under construction.


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