Beyond Alpine Image

The former refractory works of the Styrian Magnesite Industry AG is located in the Austrian city of Leoben. The tradition-conscious city with its global players in business and research strengthens its position as the second largest city in Styria. The industrial wasteland is an exemplary case for industrial change in the Alpine region since the 1980s. Exactly these landscape gaps need to be explored in a time when the landscape, its socio-cultural, economic and ecological demands, as well as its image and its identity, are on trial. „Beyond Alpine Image“ gets in touch with the handling of a new landscape aesthetic in a changing regiopolis. The design shows how alpine communities can view their industrial wasteland as an opportunity for a new sustainable landscape. The site-specific qualities of the area are elaborated by developing a linkage of open space between the urban part and the naturally shaped landscape with the river. The aim is to create a link between traditional or local conditions and the new transformation process towards regional offers, so that the peculiarities of the alpine region are emphasized and the space-sociological significance of this place is revalued. Neighborhood and regional offers can contribute to the landscape change and create a tension between intensive and extensive spaces. Between image and identity it is about relating local and regional scale levels in order to serve as a catalyst for further development in the 21st century.