Original use
Culture/leisure/tourism/balnearies, spa
Current use
Culture/leisure/tourism/balnearies, spa
Architects
Max Fellerer, Eugen Wörle
Concrete by reinforcement
Concrete is a relatively brittle material that is strong in compression but less so in tension.
To increase its overall strength, steel rods, wires, mesh or cables may be embedded in concrete before it sets. This reinforcement, often known as rebar, resists tensile forces. By forming a strong bond, the two materials are able to resist a variety of applied forces, effectively acting as a single structural element .
Construction method
In this case, the concrete can be made by mixing the components directly on site, or it may be transported from a production plant in concrete-mixer trucks.
This method has the disadvantage of leaving the concrete exposed to the elements while it is setting. Whereas, with other methods, the environmental conditions can be controlled during setting, providing greater control over the outcome, with cast-in-place concrete a series of tests and protocols are necessary to verify its final strength.
Architectural concrete
- textured walls
- wooden formwork finish
- stamped concrete
- exposed aggregate concrete, colored concrete, etc.
Structural types
Beams are the horizontal load-bearing elements of the frame. Columns are the vertical elements of the frame and act as the building’s primary load-bearing element. They transmit the beam loads down to the foundations.
This element is characteristic of many industrial buildings from 1900 to 1950 in which large, flared support structures extend into disc-like capitals.
State of Conservation
Description
This island in the Danube, where wooded areas sit alongside more than 2 km of sandy beaches, is one of the favorite places for residents of Vienna to practice river sports and enjoy nature by the riverside. The area was totally destroyed during the Second World War, but reconstruction began in 1948 at the hands of the architects Max Fellerer and Eugen Woerner, and the island was reopened in 1950. The complex includes leisure facilities and restaurants, outdoor swimming pools, river swimming spots, playgrounds and sports fields.
The typical structures in the area are called kaban, a row of private spaces that are rented for the season by individuals, families, groups or associations as support for leisure activities, as dressing rooms, or as storage for river sports equipment. The comb-shaped layout stretches out in two perpendicular arms that form a broad exterior linear concrete porch that is accessible on two levels and provides entrance to the different kaban. At the end of one of these arms, there is the pool area and the common services, cafeterias and restaurants. In some cases, there are sculptural elements – like a mushroom-shaped lookout structure or a tower with a spiral staircase – at the end of the elevated paths.
Both the circulation elements and the individual distinctive elements are built from exposed concrete. In general, the structure involves porticos of columns with square cross sections and beams in the same plane. Then, concrete slabs are set on top of this main structure, in some cases with large cantilevers. The kaban themselves have a simple structure of concrete columns and beams that is visible on the outside; the sloped roof above extends with an eave that shelters the access path.
The complex began developing problems with concrete carbonation in the 1970s and underwent a comprehensive and highly complex rehabilitation process.
Austria
Moissigasse (Donaustadt, district 22), 21
Wien 1220 Wien