Bad Gastein

Urban Buildings Near Wild Falls

What constitutes the building culture of Bad Gastein? How did the "Man-hattan of the Alps" arise? BAD GASTEIN: Removed | Rebuilt | Rethought - Urban Buildings Near Wild Falls tells the extraordinary building history of this town at the waterfall: The early development in the village of Wild-bad Gastein and the utilization of the healing springs in wooden bathing huts; the age of Romanticism, when the first solidly constructed bathhouses and Classicist villas sprung up; the emergence of the railroad; the multi-story Historicist hotel buildings; the Modernist concrete structures by Gerhard Garstenauer, blasted into the rock; the architectural decay and the current attempts to revitalize Bad Gastein once again.

A photo essay documents the current phase of structural change in Bad Gastein. Richly illustrated, the book offers an overview of the architectural and cultural history of the town, current insights, and an outlook into what will hopefully be an exciting future.