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| The Gasometers in Vienna are four former gas
tanks, each of 90,000 m³ storage capacity, built as part of the
Vienna municipal gas works Gaswerk Simmering in 1896–1899. They are
located in the 11th district, Simmering. They were used from 1899 to
1984 as gas storage tanks. After the changeover from town gas to
natural gas between 1969–1978, they were no longer used and were
shut down. Only the brick exterior front walls were preserved. The
structures have found a new use in modern times. |
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| History |
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The Gasometers were built from 1896 to
1899 in the Simmering district of Vienna near the Gaswerk Simmering gas
works of the district. The containers were used to help supply Vienna
with town gas, which had previously been provided by the Inter
Continental Gas Association (ICGA) in England. Once the contracts with
the ICGA expired, the city decided to construct facilities to handle its
own gas needs. At the time, the design was the largest in all of Europe.
The Gasometers were retired in 1984 due to new technologies in gasometer
construction, as well as the city's conversion from town gas and coal
gas to natural gas. Gas can be stored underground or in modern
high-pressure gas storage spheres under much higher pressures and in
smaller volumes than the relatively large gasometers. In 1978, they were
designated as protected historic landmarks. |
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During the years after their
decommission, they were used for various purposes, including being used
as a setting in the movie James Bond: The Living Daylights and as a
venue to host the Gazometer-Raves. Sound in the large round structures
reverberated and exhibited a special echo that was popular to the
ravers, and the term Gazometer was well-known in the scene.
Vienna undertook a remodelling and revitalization of the protected
monuments and in 1995 called for ideas for the new use of the
structures. The chosen designs by the architects Jean Nouvel (Gasometer
A), Coop Himmelblau (Gasometer B), Manfred Wehdorn (Gasometer C) and
Wilhelm Holzbauer (Gasometer D) were completed between 1999 and 2001.
Each gasometer was divided into several zones for living (apartments in
the top), working (offices in the middle floors) and entertainment and
shopping (shopping malls in the ground floors). The shopping mall levels
in each gasometer are connected to the others by skybridges. The
historic exterior wall was conserved. One of the ideas rejected for the
project was the plan by architect Manfred Wehdorn to use the Gasometers
for hotels and facilities for the planned World Expo in Vienna and
Budapest.
On 30 October 2001, the mayor attended the official grand opening of the
Gasometers, but people had begun moving in as early as May 2001. |
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| Technical details |
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The Gasometers are four cylindrical
telescopic gas containers, each with a volume of about 90,000 m³ seated
in a water basin; each is enclosed by a red-brick facade. They are each
70 meters tall and 60 meters in diameter. The Gasometers were gutted
during the remodelling and only the brick exterior and parts of the roof
were left standing.
Coal gas was dry-distilled from coal and was stored in these containers
before it was distributed into the city gas network. The "town gas" was
originally used only by the street lamps, but in 1910, its use for
cooking and heating in private homes was introduced. |
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| Gasometer
A |
Gasometer
D |
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Gasometer B |
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Gasometer C |
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| The Gasometers
today |
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The Gasometers have developed a village
character all their own and are a city within a city. A true sense of
community has developed, and both a large physical housing community (of
tenants) as well as an active virtual internet community (Gasometer
Community) have formed. Numerous theses and dissertations in psychology,
urban planning, journalism and architecture have been written about this
phenomenon.
Indoor facilities include a music hall (capacity 2000–3000 people),
movie theater, student dormitory, municipal archive, and so on. There
are about 800 apartments (two thirds within the historic brick walls)
with 1600 regular tenants, as well as about 70 student apartments with
250 students in residence. |
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Text source in extracts: |
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| WIKIPEDIA - the free
encyclopedia |
| Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia
with more than 100 languages, where everyone can
contribute with their knowledge |
| de.wikipedia.org |
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Internet Portal
Betriebsges.m.b.H.
Praterstrasse 33/20
A-1020 Vienna
Tel: +43/01/9580808
Fax: +43/01/9580909
E-Mail: office@citype.com
www.citype.com
FN 200659 m
ATU 50515900 |
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