The Gasometer in Vienna

Abstract

The four “gasometers” from 1899, which have been listed buildings since 1978 and were once among the largest gas production facilities in Europe, were extensively revitalised between 1999 and 2001. The architects Jean Nouvel, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Manfred Wehdorn and Wilhelm Holzbauer and their teams each redesigned one of the four cylinders and created a modern, mixed-use district in Vienna by converting these industrial monuments while retaining the old outer shell. The lighting of Vienna’s Ringstrasse increased the demand for gas, leading to the decision to build Europe’s largest gasworks at the time. Construction work on all four tanks have been completed in mid-1898 and they were ready for operation on 17 July 1899. After the shutdown in 1986, the tank bells were dismantled and removed, leaving behind the domes, decorated with brick walls. At the beginning of the 1990s, the empty Gasometer D was used for clubbing. From 1999 to 2001, 615 flats, 230 student flats, 11,000 m² of office space, an event hall for 4,200 visitors, the state archives and a shopping centre with an original 22,000 m² of retail space were built in the shell structures. The article shows how this transformation process has been embedded in the city’s urban transformation strategy as part of the European Union’s Urbion funding program. It also shows the underlying discussion of the architectural possibilities for intervention in terms of the changes of use of this industrial monument.