TRANSFORMATION OF SITE
Built as Europe‘s largest tobacco factory, planned by famous architects (Peter Behrens and Alexander Popp) this jewel of international modernism was abandoned in 2009. Recognizing its strategic potential for the future growth of Linz, the city bought the site in order to be able to direct its overall development. The combination of cultural value, big size and excellent location demands an intelligent concept for the planning-process, dealing with international and local ressources. The role of Europan within this process is to offer a structural vision whose spatial concept shall inspire fruitful scenarios of use. A wide range of possible uses is being discussed: the contemporary cultural fields of production, creative and progressive industries, educational institutions, social facilities and, partly, special forms of housing.Providing an urbanistic framework Europan can - at the same time - enrich, complement and navigate the local initiatives. The relation between regional impact and local transformation, between preservation and renewal, between bigness and microscopia, between shared facilities and individualization form the exciting ingredients for the Europan project.
CITY STRATEGY
The city aims at strengthening its profile as innovative town in the produc- tive and cultural sectors. The conversion of large scale areas as well as the implementation of large infrastructural projects shall contribute to the dynamic situation of a town which provides an especially high amount of working places.
In 2009 Linz was European Capital of Culture underlining its ambitions as an active urban realm.