Salzwelten Salzburg

Possibly the world’s oldest exhibition mine, they have become an international tourist attraction and currently welcome around 200,000 visitors per year. The aim of the project was to develop an overall concept for the ensemble, which had become somewhat outdated as it had expanded over the years: The introduction of modern facilities and the optimisation of operations should both increase visitor numbers and present the history of the salt mine in a new light. The existing buildings were carefully combined into a coherent whole with the help of connecting elements that take the form of new, extended and remodelled buildings. To this end, a variation of the standard vocabulary of industrial architecture was developed, in which the shimmering, red-orange character of the salt stone was atmospherically translated into a palette of materials, colours and appearances. Selective interventions reinforced the characteristic heterogeneity and natural sense of orientation within the SalzweltenThe journey through the mine was conceived as a trip in time through four ages of salt mining by Sabine Dreher (liquid frontiers). The spatial and narrative concept, the clear yet playful formal and material language and the subtly orchestrated atmospheric qualities combine the historical with the contemporary, above and below ground, and ensure that the Salzwelten Salzburg are a unique cultural experience for all the senses.