architek[tour] tirol – guide to architecture in tyrol

For the newly built Falginjochbahn aerial tramway on the Kaunertal Glacier, the architects developed two technoid-looking infrastructure buildings made of concrete, steel and glass that make reference to the technical equipment of cable car technology. Situated at an elevation of 2,750 meters, the base station consists of a large, glazed steel framework on a concrete plinth; the cantilevered top station at an altitude of over 3,000 meters is designed as an antipode.

The hotel is an example of high-quality redensification right in the heart of Innsbruck. On the one hand, the façade of the existing building on Maria-Theresien-Straße was restored, the old building gutted inside and completely reorganized. On the other hand, a new structure that responds to the neighboring development as a narrow block with a concluding head building went up in the inner courtyard.

Taking the world of forms found in the high alpine landscape as a basis, the architects from Vorarlberg designed two new stations of the Wildspitz Cable Car as organic sculptures enveloped in curved aluminum sheet panels. Integrated in the mountain station is "Café 3440,” currently the highest-lying restaurant in Austria, with a freely suspended terrace glazed on all sides, which offers spectacular views into the glacier world.