Heritage Impact Assessment ‘Heumarkt Neu’ Construction Project and Development of the World Heritage Property ‘Historic Centre of Vienna’ Heritage Impact Assessment ‘Heumarkt Neu’ Construction Project and Development of the World Heritage Property ‘Historic Centre of Vienna’ 21st February 2019 IMPRINT PRINCIPAL Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria Ref. no. BKA – KU24.621/0053 – II/4/2018 represented by: Dr. Christoph Bazil, Head of Division II / 4 www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at DATA TRANSFER City of Vienna, represented by: Mag. Rudolf Zunke Wertinvest, represented by: Mag. Klaus Wolfinger (Wolfinger Consulting GmbH) Isay Weinfeld Arquitetura e Urbanismo LTDA, represented by: Dipl.-Ing. Sebastian Murr (Murr Architekten Part GmbB) www.wien.gv.at; www.wertinvest.at; www.sebastianmurr.com CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT, LAYOUT AND PHOTOGRAPHY michael kloos planning and heritage consultancy Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Kloos M. A. Baharak Seyedashrafi Dipl.-Ing. Philipp Tebart www.michaelkloos.de VISUALISATIONS v-cube M.A. Richard Ehren www.v-cube.de DOUBLE-CHECK OF THE REPORT AND ADVISORY BOARD FOR THE HERITAGE IMPACT ASSESSMENT Prof. Dr.-techn. Cristian Abrihan, Project Management and Project Development in Historical Context, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, RheinMain University of Applied Sciences Univ. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Vittorio Magnano Lampugnani, Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin, Institute for Advanced Study / ETH Zürich Department Architektur Univ. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Christa Reicher, Faculty of Architecture, Chair and Institute of Urban and Regional Planning, RWTH Aachen University Dr. Birgitta Ringbeck, World Heritage Coordination Centre, Federal Foreign Office, Berlin Univ. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Kunibert Wachten, emeritus, until July 2018, Chair and Institute of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, RWTH Aachen University 6 Heritage Impact Assessment Heumarkt Neu construction project and development of the World Hritage property Historic Centre of Vienna SUMMARY 1. Objective and background of the assessment ing Universal Value of the World Heritage property. 1.1_Objectives: b.) Assessment of the Heumarkt Neu construction project with regard to The objective of this independent expert assessment commissioned by the the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage property Historic Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria is to evaluate from an inde- Centre of Vienna: pendent perspective the effects of recent high-rise developments and the planned Heumarkt Neu construction project on the Outstanding Universal • Effects on the authenticity and integrity of the World Heritage property. Value of the World Heritage property Historic Centre of Vienna. In case of • Effects on the city centre as a whole, and in more detail on the imme- negative influences, the plan is to develop recommendations how to re- diate surroundings of the Ringstraße ensemble. duce or avoid such influences. c.) It was the expressed wish of the principal to carry out the evaluation 1.2_Background: process with the involvement of the (professional) public, in spite of the The Heritage Impact Assessment is based on Decision 41 COM 7B.42 adopt- very limited time available (public consultation). ed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2017 to inscribe the World Heritage property Historic Centre of Vienna on the List of World Heritage in Danger, on the grounds that 2. Assessment process and methods • urban development has reached a critical level as a result of high-rise 2.1_Against this background, the process of preparing the Heritage Im- developments and the modernisation of historic building stock, thus pact Assessment included the following steps: impacting the Outstanding Universal Value of the property, 1. Key stakeholders were informed on the assessment in preliminary • the control and planning instruments of the City of Vienna do not suffi- talks, and specific requests were incorporated whenever possible ciently protect the Outstanding Universal Value, (representatives of the principal, tenderer and architect, representa- • the modifications of the planned Heumarkt Neu project do not meet the tives of the City of Vienna). requirements and recommendations of the World Heritage Committee. 2. A so-called Scoping Report was prepared and made available to the central stakeholders involved, which illustrates the content frame- In more detail, a position on the following issues is to be taken in the Her- work, the process design and the time schedule of the assessment. itage Impact Assessment: 3. The tenderer and the commissioned architect’s office were asked to compile information on the project that served as a basis for the de- a.) Analysis of the development of the Historic Centre of Vienna since in- scription presented in the report of the planned Heumarkt Neu proj- scription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in the year 2001, with par- ect. In addition, the project description was agreed with the tenderer ticular focus on high-rise developments at the edge of the buffer zone. and the commissioned architect’s office. Assessment of the high-rise developments with regard to the Outstand- 4. During a dialogue round held on 20 September 2018, citizens and rep- michael kloos planning and heritage consultancy Heritage Impact Assessment Heumarkt Neu construction project and development of the World Hritage property Historic Centre of Vienna 7 resentatives of NGOs were given the opportunity to report on their 3.1_High-rise developments since 2001: assessment of the matter under consideration. It is to be stated that the distant view of the historic city centre of Vienna 5. The visualisations created for the Heritage Impact Assessment by the from many lookout points of cultural history relevance has changed sig- authors of the report were agreed with the commissioned architect’s nificantly because of the high-rise developments which have been real- office Murr Architekten. ised since 2001: 6. On 13 November 2018, an interim report on the assessment was pre- sented in the course of the UNESCO / ICOMOS Advisory Mission. Rep- • St. Stephen’s Cathedral can no longer be seen as the symbolic and resentatives of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS Interna- visual centre of Vienna from the Giant Ferris Wheel / Danube Tower. tional, the Federal Chancellery of the Republic of Austria and the City of Therefore, it is no longer possible to experience the mono-centrality Vienna attended the meeting. of Vienna’s urban structure, which is a characteristic of the World Her- 7. The assessment was double-checked by an Advisory Board, consisting itage property Historic Centre of Vienna. of renowned international experts. • The view from the Belvedere gardens to the historic city centre of Vien- 8. There are plans to make the assessment available to the public once na was significantly changed by the high-rise developments at Dan- it is completed, and to summarise the assessment in a video which is ube Canal / Leopoldstadt. easy to understand for all stakeholders, in order to facilitate a trans- • A random check of the consequences of the high-rise developments parent and constructive exchange of opinions. in the area of Wien River / Zollamtssteg indicates that their height also impairs the visual integrity of the historic city centre of Vienna and of 2.2_The assessment methods included an analysis of the following partial the Ringstraße ensemble from a close-by perspective. The consistency aspects: of the streetscape built during the Gründerzeit is noticeable only to a 1. Retrospective Statement of Outstanding Universal Value: Inscription limited extent. criteria of the World Heritage property 2. World Heritage relevant planning and protection instruments 3.2_Effects of the planned Heumarkt Neu project: 3. Developments on the World Heritage property since 2001 The assessment showed that the scale of the planned Heumarkt Neu 4. Planned development: Heumarkt Neu project project results in tremendous impairments of the visual integrity of the 5. Characteristics of the historic skyline of Vienna World Heritage property Historic Centre of Vienna. In particular the follow- 6. Historical and urban development of the assessed area concerned ing three urban spaces are directly affected in the narrower area under 7. Conclusion: Definition of attributes (characteristics) of the World Her- assessment: itage property which are relevant to the assessment • Belvederegarten: Dramatic change of the appearance of St. Stephen’s Cathedral creates adverse effects on the everyday perception of his- 3. Assessment results torically significant monocentric urban structure / the historic skyline of Vienna; These assessment steps gave the following results: • Lothringerstraße: Inappropriate distortion of the historic Ringstraße ensemble as a result of the planned demolition and new construction michael kloos planning and heritage consultancy 8 Heritage Impact Assessment Heumarkt Neu construction project and development of the World Hritage property Historic Centre of Vienna of the existing InterContinental Hotel at a larger scale / creation of a the 10-point list of measures below in order to avoid the very serious neg- new high point which is atypical for the type of buildings of the Ring- ative effects on the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage straße ensemble; property to be expected: • Stadtpark: Amplification of the already existing scale problems of the existing hotel as a result of the planned demolition and new construc- 4.1_Recommendation 1: