Base data:
net area 890 m²
agency 500 m²
exhibition 100 m²
apartment 250 m²
service 40 m²

"The Boat" is a floating structure, permanently anchored on the Danube Canal, opposite the Urania building in central Vienna. The brief was for an advertising agency with exhibition spaces and a small apartment for the owner. The final form of the object is derived from a design process that deals with the history of the Danube and its unpredictability as regards flooding etc. This project examines qualities of the river that today are barely perceived: the difference in level between the quay and the surface of the water and difference between high and low water levels (an incredible 4.5 meters), are directly translated into movements of the building volume. When the water level rises walls are inclined or shifted, steps become steep or shallow, functions change. When once-in-a-century high water level occurs the boat cannot be entered, it is like a piece of nature that can never be completely controlled.

Published in: "Architektur aktuell" No. 153 May 1993, Springer Verlag
"Architektur aktuell" No. 187/88 Jan/Feb 1996, Springer Verlag
Bau- und Immobilien-Report, March 1999, Report-Verlag

Client:
CAA Agency
Goldschmiedgasse 10
A-1010 Vienna/Austria
Mr. Joe Ofenboeck

Partner:  
AT-P, Achammer Tritthart und Partner Wien ZT AG
Landstrasser Hauptstrasse 97-101
A-1030 Vienna/Austria

Dates:
commission Sept. 90
code drawings Dez. 91
June 94: After more than two years delay the authorities decided that private use of the Danube is prohibited.

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