In 1987, Austria’s largest library for technology and the natural sciences moved into its new building on Karlsplatz. Planning had started ten years before, and construction was completed in three years. The six floors of the library building that are accessible to the public feature open access shelving and various study zones. Three basement levels below the ground floor house the stack rooms and a laboratory for high magnetic fields. The most distinctive feature of the façade is the massive 18m owl sculpture that was designed by the sculptor Bruno Weber and cast in situ in 1986.

As participants of our guided tours learned, press reactions to the owl sculpture were very negative. Both the procurement procedure and the aesthetics came in for a lot of criticism. Read more in the following newspaper articles:

DIE PRESSE (1985): Die Eule am Karlsplatz (PDF), opens a file in a new window

DIE PRESSE (1986): Wieviel Kitsch verträgt das Stadtbild? (PDF), opens a file in a new window

KURIER (1986): Umstrittene Eule wird bunter Vogel (PDF), opens a file in a new window

DIE PRESSE (1986): Aufruf zum Abbruch (PDF) , opens a file in a new window

Over the last years, the interior of the library has been adapted in order to position the library as an open space and make its role in society visible. A highlight of the guided tours was the Data Visualisation Space, Davis, that opened in May 2023 to provide an experimental learning space, with an interactive 2D wall and a 3D wall that makes it possible to experience virtual worlds together. During OPEN HOUSE WIEN, the new Data Visualisation Space Davis was accessible to the general public for the first time.

Other tour highlights were a visit to the closed stacks and to the rooftop terrace, which are normally not accessible to the public.

Our thanks go to the numerous interested visitors who made this day a success, and to our dedicated staff members who made it possible for us to participate in OPEN HOUSE.