ARENA & Rataplan

Located not too far from Rinderhalle, is a much smaller (former) slaughterhouse home to ARENA, a local independent rock music society. An architect named Susanne Höhndorf from Rataplan (an architecture firm involved with the redevelopment of ARENA) told me their story of community, music, and architecture. ARENA represents part of a subculture that emerged in Vienna in the 1970s as an alternative to the “high culture” tradition of Vienna. ARENA, a non-profit society, has “peacefully occupied” the slaughterhouse for thirty years. Through a long process of negotiation and protest, the City of Vienna has allowed ARENA to stay and have recently invested money to repair and improve the venue that had remained quite raw since its slaughterhouse days. ARENA is a successful music venue putting on sell-out shows consistently and maintaining its grass roots feel. 

The architects at Rataplan have been working with ARENA for upwards of fifteen years and saw them through their major renovations and contemporary additions. They not only know the project well but are personally invested in its cultural value for Vienna. As architects, they lent credibility and negotiation skills in dealing with city officials. Their approach to creating architectural solutions was inspiring. The design process was long and involved full consultation with the ARENA community. 

It was a contentious issue to bring public investment into this site run by a community on the fringe of society. Some feared they would be alienated from the new space. Rataplan came up with an economical spatial design and a construction process that allowed the ARENA community to personalize the space themselves. When I visited ARENA, I noticed that the heritage spaces referenced the past and the contemporary spaces are almost camouflaged by the graffiti but stand out as a well designed building.

I was swept up in Susanne’s story as she spoke with compassion and modesty about the process. It was a wonderful story about new architecture emerging out of a true opportunity, with the participation of the community and an outcome that is contemporary, relevant and well loved. 

Recent office building completed by Rataplan.