The Muse­um­sQuarti­er Vien­na is a pop­u­lar meet­ing point for cre­ative artists, cre­ative start-up entre­pre­neurs, artists and vis­i­tors from Vien­na and all around the world. A place to meet peo­ple. The area is always open for vis­i­tors, there are no bar­ri­ers. The world-renowned MQ-fur­ni­ture in the court­yards invite to relax and chat. Through the peo­ple, that encounter each oth­er here, an atmos­phere of cos­mopoli­tanism and cre­ativ­i­ty forms. The Muse­um­sQuarti­er Vien­na is a space for art, cre­ation and life.

This liv­ing space is there­fore in con­stant inter­ac­tion with the chang­ing basic con­di­tions. Cli­mate change is an exam­ple for such a con­di­tion. It does not only affect the city of Vien­na, it also affects the area of the MQ, some­thing that can be par­tic­u­lar­ly felt at the height of sum­mer. The many sealed sur­faces absorb and accu­mu­late the heat. Due to the court­yard-sit­u­a­tion, the heat will remain here more eas­i­ly, even at night.

In order to meet the chang­ing needs of the area, the MQ wants to pro­vide the UNIC plat­form with the project ini­tia­tive “Cool­ing down the MQ”. The goal is to low­er the felt tem­per­a­ture by up to 15° Cel­sius com­pare to cur­rent heat spells. This is sup­posed to be attained with green ele­ments such as trees and oth­er plants as well as shad­ing and neb­u­liza­tion ele­ments, which do the cul­tur­al area justice.

How­ev­er, the open spaces of the MQ have spe­cial needs, that com­pli­cate such an under­tak­ing. The area and the insti­tu­tions locat­ed in the MQ are open year-round, the open spaces acces­si­ble 24 hours a day. Next to the vis­i­tors of the muse­ums, the cul­tur­al and gas­tro­nom­i­cal insti­tu­tions, the court­yards host diverse events, such as read­ings, movie screen­ings, con­certs, the­ater- and art per­for­mances and events for kids.

These events range from small to big with up to sev­er­al thou­sand guests. There­fore, the court­yards of the MQ are sub­ject­ed to con­stant change and have to adapt to the var­i­ous activ­i­ties. Addi­tion­al­ly, the build­ing stock is under mon­u­men­tal pro­tec­tion, which means, that the char­ac­ter of the over­all appear­ance can­not be changed.

A sig­nif­i­cant cool­ing of the MQ-area with green and blue infra­struc­ture there­fore has to meet these chal­lenges, which pos­es high cre­ative and tech­ni­cal stan­dards for the plan­ning solu­tions of the Cool­ing Down oasis. The goal is to make the MQ a sum­mer resort using nature-based solutions.