A Viennese Landmark as an Exportable Model

Since the Vienna International Garden Show in 1964, the Donauturm has dominated the Viennese skyline and, at 252 metres, is still the tallest structure in Austria. It was the first tower in Europe with a revolving restaurant.

Unlike existing European television towers, such as those in Stuttgart and Dortmund, the Donauturm was dedicated solely to the experience of the view — and conversely, it was a symbol of WIG 64 and the later Donaupark that could be seen from afar. Architect Hannes Lintl achieved his international breakthrough by adopting the revolving restaurant concept from the USA and installing high-performance lifts. He subsequently designed towers for Jakarta and Baghdad and was a consulting architect in the planning of the Montréal Tower. When almost 600,000 visitors had stormed the Danube Tower in a single year, Lintl was regarded as an expert on rotating platforms, viewing architecture, lift systems, tower statics and visitor flows. The Donauturm has been a listed building since 2007.

With: Roman Bauer, Donauturm Aussichtsturm- und Restaurantbetriebsgesellschaft m.b.H.; Gregor Eichinger, eichinger offices; Ulrike Krippner, BOKU; Manuela Legen-Preissl, BDA; Monika Platzer und Susanne Rick, Az W

Moderated by Suzanne Kříženecký, Az W