22.10.2024

New pocket park in Vienna on the Danube Canal

Building design

Visualization of the planned pocket park on Vienna's Danube Canal. Rendering: Merlin Bartholomäus

The Danube Canal is an important lifeline in the densely built-up inner-city area of Vienna. But it could do even more to make the city fit for the future and climate-friendly. That is why the city has now decided to implement projects to improve the quality of life along the Danube Canal, starting with a pocket park.

Vienna’s Danube Canal is a popular leisure hotspot in the Austrian capital. Many bars and restaurants as well as sports and walking opportunities ensure many visits, especially in summer. The area is heavily used, but in future it should contribute even more to making the city fit for the future and climate-friendly. To this end, the City of Vienna has announced several projects, starting with a pocket park. This green mini-oasis is planned for the left bank of the Danube Canal and is intended to replace the aging Glashaus.

“We want to make the Danube Canal even more attractive and are therefore creating another green living room in the middle of the city with the new pocket park, in line with our motto ‘Get out of the asphalt’! And this is just the beginning of a series of further projects on the Danube Canal,” says Ulli Sima, the city councillor responsible for Vienna’s waterways. Alexander Nikolai, district leader of Leopoldstadt, emphasizes that the green mini-oasis will successfully continue the “Raus aus dem Asphalt” initiative.

The new pocket park in Vienna is intended as a green living room on the Danube Canal. It will be located directly on the left bank of the Danube Canal on the Vilma Steindling promenade between Augartenbrücke and Salztorbrücke. With a total area of 140 m², it will offer space by the water for a picnic or a relaxing break from summer 2024. Unlike the many restaurants along the canal, there is no obligation to consume.

The park was planned by landscape architect Gerhard Rennhofer from Vienna on behalf of the city. His plans show that a large seating stone will form the visual boundary between the new green space and the promenade along the Danube Canal. A large tree and additional greenery will provide shade and cooling. This will create a better microclimate on this section of the Danube Canal. The quay wall will also be planted with climbing plants.

In order to build the Pocket Park Vienna, the glass house located on the planned site will have to go. Also known as the “Aquarium”, it dates back to 1998 and was used for a long time as an exhibition and event space for the Vienna Environmental Mile. Most recently, it was also used as a catering area. However, a structural survey has revealed considerable defects and signs of ageing on the glass elements and the floor structure. The glass house must therefore now be demolished.

Pocket parks are a popular urban planning measure. The name can be translated as “pocket park”. It describes compact, formerly derelict or sealed areas in the city that are revitalized through planting. These mini-oases are particularly suitable for use in compact, dense inner-city areas. They have an individual character, offer advantages for climate protection and climate adaptation, and make use of existing structures. They are therefore also very cost-effective.

Further projects are planned for the Danube Canal in Vienna. The greening and upgrading measures are intended to give the banks a new look and make the city climate-ready. The city is particularly keen on cooling measures and more greenery in order to put a stop to the urban heat island effect.

To the right and left of the planned pocket park in Vienna are catering facilities. There are also areas for sport and leisure, characterized by park-like shoreline areas. One interesting project in this context is the Floating Gardens: the former Kaiserbad lock on the Danube Canal has been landscaped and transformed into a “chill area”. This reinforces the cooling air corridor along the canal, following the example of the Floating Gardens on the Seine in Paris.

The Vienna Danube Canal is 17 kilometers long and 50 meters wide. It flows through seven districts of the city. In the past, the canal was the only navigable arm of the Danube’s old branches. It was given its present appearance by the regulation of the Danube between 1870 and 1875 and flows back into the Danube near the port of Albern. The canal has a prominent location in Vienna’s city center and is easily accessible, making it an important link between Vienna’s districts.

Other natural shoreline areas along the Danube Canal include shady rows of buildings as well as meadow and reed zones. The natural embankment sections provide space for rare plants and protected animal species. In addition, the Danube Canal, which is primarily used for shipping, is also to be optimized as a migration corridor for fish. Artificial spawning structures for fish have been installed in the area where the Wien River flows into the Danube Canal.

The pocket park is due to open in summer 2024 and will further contribute to the greening of the Danube Canal. The City of Vienna will be announcing further projects soon.

Read more: Vienna is repeatedly voted one of the most liveable cities in the world. Click here for the city portrait.

31.12.2024

Society

Tilling open space

Building design

As the population increases, so does the density stress in Swiss cities and conurbations. At the same time, outdoor recreation and sport are becoming more important. A 2014 publication on the greater Zurich area provides examples of how existing green spaces can be made more accessible. Pieter Poldervaart analyzes the results in the December issue of G+L. The study Freiraumnetz Zürich can be […]

As the population increases, so does the density stress in Swiss cities and conurbations. At the same time, outdoor recreation and sport are becoming more important. A 2014 publication on the greater Zurich area provides examples of how existing green spaces can be made more accessible. Pieter Poldervaart analyzes the results in the December issue of G+L. You can download the Freiraumnetz Zürich study here.

8.42 million people lived in Switzerland in 2017, compared to 7.08 million or 19 percent fewer twenty years ago. In the past, this annual growth of one percent and the increasing demand for living space per capita was accompanied by a partly unchecked urban sprawl. Greater Zurich is particularly affected by the rapid growth in the resident population. Three million people live in the perimeter defined as the Zurich metropolitan area, which includes not only the canton of Zurich but also numerous municipalities in neighboring cantons and even in neighboring southern Germany.

Forecasts suggest that 30,000 people per year will continue to move to Switzerland’s economic center. In addition to housing and jobs, these people also need recreational space. In 2014, the Zurich Metropolitan Area Association therefore published an outline that shows the way to a “settlement-related open space network” – as the title suggests. In addition to describing the problem, the guide aims to show how existing recreational areas can be upgraded and new ones created and how planning is possible across municipal and cantonal boundaries. You can download the study here.

You can read the full article in G+L 12/18.

06.01.2025

Event

One brick prize, many awards

Building design

Main prizewinner of the German Brick Award 2019 — City library

German Brick Award 2019 presented – one prize, many awards for exemplary energy projects

The results of the German Brick Award 2019 were announced on February 1: 120 submissions of exemplary energy-efficient brick projects from all over Germany made the decision difficult for the jury, chaired by Piero Bruno from the Berlin office of Bruno Fioretti Marquez. The high design quality ultimately led to a large number of awards – two main prizes, six special prizes in various categories and eight commendations.

The main prize for monolithic construction was deservedly awarded to Harris + Kurrle Architekten from Stuttgart for the municipal library in Rottenburg am Neckar. The jury praised “the sensitive positioning of the remarkable new building as a communicative and contemplative place in the fabric of the city”. It also praised the public building for its skillful, creative use of monolithic exterior wall constructions made of highly insulating bricks.

An extension

The main prize for multi-shell construction went to the remarkable extension to the Philosophy Department of the University of Münster by Peter Böhm Architekten from Cologne. “The building, modestly described as a ‘shelf wall’, cleverly incorporates the existing listed building and forms an attractive façade opposite the historic Fürstenberghaus,” said the jury. “In this case, the haptic brick becomes synonymous with sensual appeal and a cleverly reduced, ornamental appearance.”

A special prize for energy efficiency

Several special prizes were also awarded, including one for “Cost-effective, energy-efficient multi-storey residential construction”. This was won by the Ulm-based firm Braunger Wörtz Architekten with their project at Vorwerkstrasse 23/1 in Neu-Ulm. The new building for the Neu-Ulm housing association (NUWOG) comprises 31 publicly subsidized, barrier-free rental apartments in a six-storey building and is designed as a KfW Efficiency House 70. The jury: “The uncomplicated design with monolithic brick exterior walls, which are finished with a white cement scratch coat that does not require painting, guarantees this residential building a low-maintenance, long life.”

Awarded by: Ziegelzentrum Süd e.V. in cooperation with the
Federal Ministry of the Interior
www.ziegel.com

The exhibition can be seen until February 15, 2019 at the Haus der Architektur, Waisenhausstraße 4 in Munich. It will then travel to various universities.

Photos: Roland Halbe; Lukas Roth; Erich Spahn