Wien Museum, Vienna (AT)

The so called Wien Museum will be extended with a pavilion-like structure, that serves as an impetus on the east side of Karlsplatz, enriching the city with public cultural life. The building reacts to the urban situation in a differentiated way. In dialogue with the surrounding buildings, it complements them with newly created references, forming a distinctive urban space with a new unique identity.
The southwest façade completes the setting of the square in front of the Karlskirche, thus supporting its strong axiality. The surroundings of the church will thereby be extended by a forecourt, which introduces a threshold situation to the Karlsplatz or Resselpark and anchors the Karlskirche in the urban space. The axis of the Canovagasse will continue between the two buildings of the Wien Museum. A new square is being built here. The buckling of the new building means that the unobstructed view of the Karlskirche is being re-enacted. Along Lothringerstrasse, the new Wien Museum takes over the scale of the opposite Musikverein building, thus contributing to the spatial completion of Karlsplatz and the street space, which was extended by the Wien Museum’s existing building.

Client: Wien Museum Projekt GmbH
Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller with Christian Schmölz
Competition: 2015, 2nd round, shortlisted
Area: 11,976 m²

Partner
structural engineering: Bollinger Grohmann, Vienna / landscape: Auböck & Karasz, Vienna / rendering: Expressiv, Vienna