Geometric Waterfall of Donau
Vienna’s silhouette recently replenished with a new object. There has been completed construction of the first of the two highrises of the DC Towers. Designed by Dominique Perrault, the DC Towers are a destinctive feature of Vienna’s skyline. The DC Towers (also known as Donau City Towers) will be a pair of towers in Vienna’s Donaucity.
With a total area of some 17.4 hectares and total investment of roughly € 2 billion, the VIENNA DC Donau- City is by far Austria’s largest real estate development. The design of the two high-rise towers for the Donau-City in Vienna by Dominique Perrault Architecture represents the concluding phase of a development extending over several decades: on what was originally a municipal rubbish tip the UNO-City was erected (1973–1979), tentative plans to hold the 1995 Vienna-Budapest EXPO here were soon abandoned, as a result architects Krischanitz and Neumann (commissioned by WED AG) produced an urban design masterplan for the area in 1992. The outcome is an entirely new urban district with a diverse range of functions. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The international competition that followed in 2002 for the design of the remaining undeveloped third of the Donau-City was won by Dominique Perrault. To ensure that the development would provide the entire Donau-City site with a new kind of urban quality Perrault’s urban planning guideline project employs a number of different design measures: firstly his project continues the elevated slab of the Donau-City to the banks of the Neue Donau in the form of a generously dimensioned terrace providing direct access to the river. Secondly rather than interpreting the two highrise towers as independent buildings Perrault treats them as the corresponding halves of a block that open towards the city and the Neue Donau with a space-defining gesture.
Standing 250 metres tall, DC Tower 1 is not only Austria’s highest building but also a fascinating new urban landmark. It will be 18 metres higher than Millennium Tower, which is currently leading that ranking. DC Tower 2 is expected to be 168 metres high which will make it Vienna’s fourth tallest building. The edifice is to be joined by the 44-storey ‘DC tower 2’, also to be completed by Dominique Perrault architecture.
The structure features an elegant cascading façade that reflects the neighbouring danube river both literally and metaphorically. The soaring mixed-use complex establishes a vertical city perpendicular to the historic center. The DC Tower 1 combines architectural aesthetics with an advanced ‘green’ design and functionality. It is one of the first Austrian office towers built and equipped in accordance with the energy and sustainability requirements for ‘green buildings’ issued by the European Commission.
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Materials provided by Ana Berlin Communications,
photos by Michael Nagl