Industrial behemoths reborn as a star-studded urban district where each cylinder offers a different architectural soul.
The Vienna Gasometers are four gasholder houses, built as part of the municipal gas works in Vienna, Austria. The original gasholder houses were constructed from 1896 to 1899. They are located in the 11th district, Simmering. They were used from 1899 to 1984 to house gas holders (also known as gasometers), each with a storage capacity of 90,000 cubic meters (3 million cu. ft.). After the transition from coal gas to natural gas between 1969 and 1978, the three gasholder houses were no longer used and were shut down. Only the brick exterior walls were preserved. The structures have found new residential and commercial use in modern times.
Featured in Coop Himmelb(l)au's definitive monograph, Coop Himmelblau: Complete Works.
Visitor Guide
Start at Gasometer A to see Nouvel's sundial atrium, then walk the skybridges to find the kindergarten and internal forest in Gasometers C and D.
Outside Gasometer B, looking up at the Coop Himmelb(l)au shield where the deconstructivist geometry clashes with the 19th-century red brick.
The shopping mall level connects all four buildings and is public. The Bank Austria multifunctional hall in Gasometer B holds over 4,000 people.
Nouvel originally dreamt of using the top glass dome as a support for bio-climatic equipment to power the entire district, but the plan was never fully realized.
2-3 hours
Design & Structure
The project used a competition format to revitalize the protected monuments. Each architect had to solve the 'static puzzle' of inserting a modern high-rise into a nineteenth-century brick shell.
A contrast of thick historic brickwork with modern aluminum and glass curtain walls. Gasometer A uses mirrors and refractions to 'light' the theme inside.
Concrete rings were used to consolidate the historic masonry and establish structural connections to the new pillars of the high-rise blocks inside the cylinders.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who designed Vienna Gasometers?+
Vienna Gasometers was designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au. It is located in Vienna, Austria.
Where is Vienna Gasometers located?+
Vienna Gasometers is located in Vienna, Austria. Its coordinates are 48.1849°, 16.4200°.
Can I visit Vienna Gasometers?+
Vienna Gasometers is a real building in Vienna that can be viewed from the outside. Check local information for interior access and visiting hours. Use the Parametric Atlas walking tour feature to plan a route that includes this building.