Forgotten place regains new meaning

The former railway station at Landungsplatz in Ebensee is one of many buildings across Europe—rich in history, yet left behind by time. Once a place of arrival and departure, it now stands still—quiet, unused, but full of potential.

The Creative Region Linz & Upper Austria brought the location into the EU project DECORATOR as Pilot 4, and began shaping a process that would connect circular building, local knowledge and civic imagination.

In collaboration with the Kunstuniversität Linz and its platform basehabitat, the project was integrated into the architecture curriculum as a semester project (Fall/Winter 2025/26).

At the heart of DECORATOR is the belief that circular transformation must connect the technical, social and cultural dimensions of building. The project therefore brings together partners from design, policy, technology, and education across multiple countries.

From the start, the municipality of Ebensee, the ÖBB, and local cultural actors from “Aufbruch Salzkammergut” were involved. Together, they helped define the scope and framework for temporary reuse.

Before the design process began, the team conducted a stakeholder analysis and reviewed existing material and history, including an architectural walk of Ebensee.

The students developed a model for the Landungsplatz based on the point cloud, as well as a schematic of the resulting reconstruction.

Parallel to their fieldwork, the students began developing first design concepts, which were presented in Linz to a group of advisors from Creative Region, nonconform, Aufbruch Salzkammergut, architects and professors.

Based on the feedback, the five prototypes were further refined and finalized during the winter months.

The results were internally presented at the end of January at the Architekturforum Linz.

In March 2026, the results were shared with the public in the form of an exhibition in Ebensee.