Research

The project contributes to the research field of landscape and infrastructure. The Koralm Railway is a section of the Baltic-Adriatic Corridor, a high-performance railway across Europe. The section of the Koralm Railway connects the cities of Graz and Klagenfurt as a linear infrastructure with a high-performance railway. The railway line is being built using state-of-the-art technology and is about to go into operation. The new infrastructure is transforming the landscape. In the research project, the characteristics of the landscape changed and redesigned by the railway will be surveyed and its impact on the landscape due to infrastructural interventions will be investigated. The results will be prepared for use as an audio guide on ÖBB trains.

Landscape Architecture (LA) has been linked together by numerous historical and contemporary connections and interdependencies across Europe and beyond. Its archives will now be used as a resource to create a comprehensive pan-European narrative of landscape history. The COST Action ‘Connecting Landscape Architecture Archives to enhance European landscape practice, research and education (ConnectLAA)’ will, for the first time, bring together information on the content of European LA archives and make it available worldwide on a digital platform. The involvement of different disciplines such as landscape architecture, cultural studies, art history, archival science, and IT will ensure that the highest scientific and technical standards are achieved in archival management, access, and cultural heritage preservation, and that the archives can be used as knowledge sources for innovative research and education. The focus will be on using advanced technologies to improve the quality, sustainability, use, and reuse of data. The mix of Proposers from different institutions and NGOs, the involvement of practitioners, and the development of innovative learning materials and a common thesaurus will ensure the promotion of promising careers and the development of groundbreaking international research projects that will support heritage agency and reveal previously undiscovered histories concerning places beyond Europe, addressing issues related to the migration and decolonization of collections. It is the basis for building a community of practice to continue to promote international access to data and support the creation of new archives and collections, particularly in ITCs, where the majority of the team are based.

The Danube Island and the New Danube, which were built between 1972 and 1988 to finally protect Vienna from flooding after centuries of struggling with the river, today form a landscape area that has become an integral part of the Viennese cityscape and fulfills central urban planning, natural and social functions. The exhibition at the Wien Museum sheds light on the complex and exciting history of the creation of this project, which is unique in its task and dimensions and - alongside Gas Works Park in Seattle, Munich's Olympic Park and Irchelpark in Zurich - is one of the icons of landscape architecture of the 1970s and 1980s. Particular attention is paid to the social and urban developments that significantly influenced the design and use of the island: the ecological and anti-nuclear power movement and the changing leisure behavior of the population, but also the construction of UNO-City, the collapse of the Reichsbrücke and the urban expansion on the left bank of the Danube contributed significantly to changes in the originally planned appearance of the island and the activities possible there today. The aim of the exhibition is not only to convey the historical significance of this major project, but also to highlight the central role of the Danube Island for flood protection, urban planning, leisure and recreation as well as ecology and nature conservation in the 21st century against the backdrop of population growth and climate change.