Design Studio Triangle, loop, polygon

The construction of the Vienna Glacis has rightly gone down in international urban planning history. However, the Ringstrasse polygon, which was realized in several construction phases in the decades after 1860, was neither uncontroversial, nor was it “finished” at the end of the Gründerzeit - to this day, as Vienna's most representative spatial figure, it is subject to constant pressure to transform, which affects both the buildings and the open spaces and often leads to fierce conflicts (keyword world cultural heritage).

The triangular urban space around the Votive Church and the adjoining bend in the Ringstrasse were long regarded as an “unfortunate” section of the Ringstrasse polygon; the Viennese urban planning theorist Camillo Sitte even spoke of a “desolate monstrosity of a square”. As the construction of the multi-storey streetcar loop and underground parking garage (popularly known as “Jonas-Reindl”) in the twentieth century and the current major construction site for the U5 underground line prove, it is still a neuralgic location in Vienna's traffic scene today.

In the course of the design process, we will trace the exciting construction and planning history of this very special urban space and develop forward-looking spatial visions for its transformation. This may involve new buildings and conversions as well as traffic solutions, open space concepts or an examination of planning and ensemble protection instruments. A large number of projects to “repair” and “reform” the triangle can serve as an impetus and inspiration, as can the redesign of Landesgerichtsstraße and Universitätsstraße, which is currently under construction as part of the subway extension.