"Campus of Religions" planned by Archdiocese of Vienna
New concept for "Campus of Religions" in Vienna
Head of construction of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Harald Gnilsen: The withdrawal of the Church College of Education requires a far-reaching redesign of the area, which is intended as a place of exchange between religious communities - start of construction currently not foreseeable.
There are new plans for the "Campus of Religions" in the Urban Lakeside Aspern in Vienna. After the Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule (KPH) will not move from its previous location in Vienna-Strebersdorf to the approximately 10,000 square metre campus as initially planned, a new concept for the campus is now being developed, ORF Vienna reported on Thursday evening. After the KPH's withdrawal, everything had to be worked out anew, said Harald Gnilsen, construction director of the Archdiocese of Vienna, who is in charge of the campus, which is designed as a place of exchange between religious communities.
According to Gnilsen, a new concept is to be worked out "in the coming months", "that by summer we will have a concept of how to reorganise and how the religious communities want to rebuild". However, it will still take time before construction can begin. However, the eight religions involved, including Christians of various denominations, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and Hinduists, are still convinced of the project, Gnilsen said.
Instead of the KPH, a large centre for joint celebrations and events is now planned next to the prayer houses, said the architect. "For that, you need a big building, a big hall that will be managed." The religious communities could not do that on their own, so it would have to be taken over by another organisation.
Besides, many questions, such as the financing of the individual places of worship, are still open, Gnilsen objected. "Once a concept is in place, the next question is how it can be financed. And then we will certainly have to hold an architectural competition. So I don't think it will be possible to build in 2024," Gnilsen said.
The city, which provided the land and the idea, reacted to the open questions in a written statement: "There are regular discussions between the religious communities and the City of Vienna. The meetings deal, among other things, with the structural and financial realisation of the communal site and are characterised by respect and trust," it said from the office of Mayor Michael Ludwig.
At the site where a circle with flags currently stands as a harbinger for the project, demolition will soon take place, Gnilsen said. That's why there are plans to move to the actual building site, put up the flags there and possibly already erect prefabricated buildings, "so that we practise how to deal with each other at events and festivities". It just has to be ensured that this should not be understood as a "campus of religions".
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