The renovation, rehabilitation and adaptation of Historical Heritage Buildings in Public Ownership. The case of historical buildings of exceptional importance in Vienna

Abstract

This commentary focuses on the issues of the renovation, rehabilitation, and adaptation of buildings of exceptional historical value and aims to initiate a broader global conversation on this topic. Four important reconstructions of historical buildings in Vienna's historic city centre have been chosen as selected examples. These are objects of larger scale (with the exception of one museum), with different functional purposes, and from different historical periods. What they have in common, apart from their exceptional heritage value and their location in Vienna's historic city centre, is that they have all been renovated and rehabilitated (including adaptation) in recent years, with the renovation of two structures still in progress. The text provides a commentary on future research directions in the context of the built environment and focuses on several related disciplines required for the contemporary reconstruction and rehabilitation of significant historical buildings.