architek[tour] tirol – guide to architecture in tyrol

Since 1984/85, an underground air cushion funicular has been connecting the eastern end of the village of Serfaus with the cable cars in the west. In the course of renewing the technical installations, the four stations were adapted to today's requirements and designed as non-barrier meeting places, each with its own character. The two stations "Kirche" and "Zentrum" in the centre of the village were completely rebuilt.

Built in the 15th and 16th centuries, the City Tower is one of Innsbruck’s oldest landmarks, and the viewing platform a popular place for locals and tourists. In the course of the renovation, a free-standing double helix with an open stairwell was realized. Not only does it direct the flow of visitors, but is itself an impressive spatial sculpture in the freed-up tower interior.

The Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce acquired a town house on Wilhelm-Greil-Straße to expand the existing premises on Meinhardstraße, which was demolished and replaced by a new building. The new main entrance is located in the main house, which is enveloped by a laser-cut aluminum façade, while a two-story wing leads to the adapted structure. The centerpiece is the publicly accessible arcade, which, as an extension of Gilmstraße, offers a new pedestrian connection.

The extension of the house for senior citizens built during the late 1990s by Hermann Kastner is an elevated two-storey building with bright spacious rooms. Together with the original building, the L-shaped extension forms a central and protected courtyard with a café and roofed open space. A central element is a chapel built above an oval-shaped ground plan in the courtyard; this was intentionally designed as an introverted place of peace.

Covered by something like a crochet veil of bronze sheets, and actually rather small in comparison to the looming apartment buildings, the building of the bank’s branch office is hovering over the halfway underground customer parking lot. With a small square in front, and the drive-in telling machine, this precious little jewelery box of a bank projects a new urban quality into what before had been just another suburban block.