The educational complex will be located near the Prater Park, on an area of 10 hectares. According to the master plan of the BUSarchitektur Vienna office, the center will house the Library and Knowledge Center, linking the traditional book collection with the latest advances in information technology.
Zaha Hadid was commissioned to design it through a competition; her rivals in the final were Hans Hollein and Tom Main. The dynamic forms of its building, the largest on the campus, define the lines of development of the entire ensemble. Around there will be educational buildings designed by Peter Cook and his workshop CRABstudio Architects (the elongated shape of his building is emphasized by bright orange stripes marking the interfloor floors on the facade), Hitoshi Abe (three thin "plates" smoothly flowing into one another), Karme Pinos (free composition of rectangular blocks), Eudardo Aroyo and NO. MAD Arquitectos (the facade ornament also decorates the glazing surfaces), BUSarchitektur (concrete wall surfaces enliven the window openings of different sizes).
The new campus is designed for 24,000 students, as well as 3,000 faculty, administration and support staff. Such a large-scale university campus project, implemented from scratch, will be the first for Austria. The authorities see it as an opportunity for the economic development of Vienna, not only during the construction period, but after - thanks to the creation of new jobs.
Construction should begin in late 2009 - early 2010, and the new complex is planned to be commissioned in 2012-2013.
