No_5_1955 — Page 70

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AL

Reconstruction of the

VIENNA STATE

OPERA HOUSE

Austria celebrated a great day on 5th November 1955, when the famous Vienna State Opera was reopened and many guests from all over the world enjoyed the glorious perfor- mances of "Fidelio" by Beethoven and of "Don Giovanni" by Mozart. The Opera House was badly destroy- ed during the last days of World War II; the reconstruction could be completed only because of sacrifices made by the Austrian people, who were proud of their Opera which had seen so many famous musicians and singers in the past.

commenced

The reconstruction with the roof structure which had to be completely renewed. A thin coat of concrete was spread upon a Hera- kiith shell. The Heraklith was used for thermal and sound insulation and as a protection against risks of fire. The built-up roofing is of cop- per sheets. The ceilings in the au- ditorium were lined with Heraklith on both sides, as were the air- ducts. Also the underside of the stage room-the stage is really most up to date was lined with Heraklith slabs which were left unplastered for sound absorption. Moreover, Heraklith was used for sound insula- tion purposes for all the partitions of the various rehearsal rooms and for the partitions of the boxes.

A total of about 500.000 square feet of Heraklith were used for the re- construction. This material was selected because of its excellent and proven qualities.

Architect: Professor Dr. Erich Bol-

tenstern. Vienna

Supervision: Ministry of Commerce

& Reconstruction

Contractors: Universale Hoch & Tiefbau, Vienna. and others.

Photographs show! View of the Fecost- structed Vienna State Opera House flood- ht on the night of the reopening (Top; The interior looking from the stage, with seating accommodation for 2209 person? (Left Centre); The roof under construc tion showing part of the Heraklith shell before the application of a thin layer of ncrete and the copper sheeling i Right contre); A further stage in the construc- t of the roof showing the spraying

of the concrete mixture over the Hera- klith and light steel reinforcement (Bol- tomy.

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