Wasserturm Hainburg

For a planned Visitors Center to the Donau-Auen National Park, a dramaturgical concept was developed to illuminate the hidden machinations and invisible processes of this special wetland biotope.

The host Wasserturm, a 13th century octagonal tower in the Hainburg city wall, and the parasitic architectural gesture by Coop Himmelblau (if popular opinion permits) provided a complex spatial condition already full of story. Through the linear procession of the proposed spaces, the dramaturgical concept not only mediates the overlapping interests of architects, politicians, scientists, archaeologists and tourists but to renders perceptible the idiosyncratic ecology of the Danube Wetlands to visitors without disturbing the processes.

Rejecting the approach of a museum of dead objects, an observatorium consisting of a flexible infrastructure of digital and analogue interfaces extends the senses into these hidden realms and scales, the why behind the notorious Green demonstrations of 1984. The wasserturm theater-elevator function is bifold. A panoramic animated sequence allows the visitors to experience a hallucinatory voyage through the various role-players involved in this biotope. The deactivation of the LSD controlled glass reveals other dark secrets in the architecture and history of this sacred place.

Exiting unto a glass bridge, the stunning view thematizes the border condition of Hainburg through history, from the edge of the Roman Empire to it's present position in the "Dreiländereck". Diverse content relating to the origins and the destination of the Danube River, from a geo[morpho]logical level to the dramatization of the international importance of the river on trans-historical, cultural, mythological and scientific levels, flow down the ridiculous emergency exit staircase design. Descending back to the entrance hall, this space functions as a plenary node in an overlapping network of sight-seeing tours for visitors to experience the natural and cultural landscape surrounding Hainburg.

Research, copy and design of concept book/slide-show presentation for the Projektteams Besucherzentrum Wasserturm Hainburg.
Research partner Dr. Gerald Navara. Architecture Coop Himmelblau. Commissioned by Nofrontiere Design.