A tale of two campuses - urban and suburban solutions of the European university campuses - a discussion on two examples in Vienna

Abstract

The newly opened campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) has quickly developed into a public attraction. It is the most frequently asked aim of all architectural tours in Vienna since 2013. The nine hectares area houses the largest University of Economics in the European Union. With the participation of star architects, this greenfield project was developed on the basis of the Anglo-Saxon spatial model of a campus. Despite the effective staging architecture, this area has not become an exciting and lively part of the city. At weekends and during the term holidays the campus looks like a ghost town, due to the fact that there are not enough attractions for people outside lecture time. A contrasting example of this suburban concept is the campus of the University of Vienna (Altes AKH), which was implemented in the late 1990s in a historic complex of buildings in the city. Although it was built with a lower budget, this campus still works very well – both as an educational institution and as part of the urban neighbourhood. This example shows us that in the long tradition of urban development in central Europe the universities and their environment have always been closely associated within the city. This concept ensures a better function in this region up to nowadays.