Growing criticism in Vienna

Michaelerplatz becomes “run-of-the-mill place without character”

Critics of the redesign warn that the square will not look like the visualizations of the city anyway.(Bild: ZOOMVP.AT)

The protest against the redevelopment of Michaelerplatz in the heart of Vienna continues. Experts confront City Hall with ideas other than a faceless facelift. Vienna could have more of this in every respect. But it would also need more courage.

Trees, flowerbeds and a water feature on Michaelerplatz are a "contemporary redesign" for the city in view of climate change. The growing number of experts protesting against the redesign of the square consider this argument to be nonsense.

"Unsealing Heldenplatz would have a much greater effect"
"I don't believe that the square will become significantly cooler as a result of the planned measures," explains university professor Lilli Lička. As head of the BOKU Landscape Architecture department, she knows what she's talking about. For her, it is clear what is needed if we are serious about a climate-friendly city: "It is clear that Heldenplatz would have a much greater impact on the climate due to the area to be unsealed."

Unsealing Heldenplatz would also be historically correct.(Bild: Wien Museum / Franz Alt)

If Heldenplatz were to be freed from concrete, it could regain its original appearance as a garden (see the view by Franz Alt from 1877 above). It lost this from the 1930s onwards. That was "contemporary" at the time. Heldenplatz "belongs" to the federal government, which would have meant laborious negotiations for the city, Lička estimates. With Michaelerplatz, the decision was probably simply made in favor of a project that was easy to implement, and in the worst possible form.

The plans for Michaelerplatz suggest that quick and high-profile action is preferred to more laborious negotiations for a more lasting effect.

Professorin Lilli Lička, BOKU-Vorstand für Landschaftsarchitektur

Bild: Natascha Unkart

Concern about the "character of special places in Vienna"
Lička does not accept the city's argument that a climate-fit Michaelerplatz must look like this: "There is no way around this look." For example, there is no need for a "water feature that you could find in every playground and in every district". She is also "not just concerned with Michaelerplatz: it's about ensuring that special places in Vienna with their very own character are not turned into run-of-the-mill squares."

The internationally active garden architect Maria Auböck also warns that the square will not look like the visualizations promised by City Hall: the city plans to plant fast-growing tall trees. They would look puny for the first ten years, then possibly acceptable for ten years - and then hide the entire square, including the Hofburg and Loos House, or be regularly trimmed anyway.