architek[tour] tirol – guide to architecture in tyrol

After the Olympic Games of 1964 and 1976, Innsbruck was the first-time venue of the Youth Olympic Winter Games in January 2012. A new Olympic Village, which has meanwhile been populated by Innsbruck’s inhabitants, was executed on the grounds of the former Eugene Barracks for this purpose. Around 450 apartments are distributed among the 13 six- to eight-story cubes. Three houses, together with a common forecourt, respectively make up a group that was arranged, in turn, around various, large courtyards.

In the west of Innsbruck a new building was constructed as a public private partnership, whereby a shopping centre and a school, facilities with completely different forms of use, have been accommodated. In a clearly defined building, which provides the surrounding urban area – including an industrial estate and heterogeneous structured residential developments – with a new identity, the two users each have their own, developed for their individual requirements, completely separate areas.

In place of the original town planned, unsatisfying and unused rest room running along the street, the new library building creates a flowing crossover from urban space to the university campus. The library is situated beneath the existing buildings and connected to the reorganised main library. The library’s roof provides much-used open space and serves as a new university town-side entrance.