Vienna International Centre (before construction of the M building and the DC Towers). The Austria Center Vienna can be seen at the far left in the middle distance. Kaisermühlen/VIC station of the Vienna U-Bahn can be seen in the foreground.Austria Center Vienna
The Vienna International Centre[1] (VIC) is the campus and building complex hosting the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV; in Austrian German: Büro der Vereinten Nationen in Wien). It is colloquially also known as UNO City.
Overview
The VIC, designed by Austrian architect Johann Staber, was built between 1973 and 1979 just north of the river Danube.
The initial idea of setting up an international organization in Vienna came from the Chancellor of Austria Dr. Bruno Kreisky.
Six Y-shaped office towers surround a cylindrical conference building for a total floor area of 230,000 square metres. The highest tower ("A Building") stands 127 metres tall, enclosing 28 floors. These office towers were among the first modern skyscrapers to be built in Austria.
The VIC is an extraterritorial area, exempt from the jurisdiction of local law.[1]
Complementing the early 2000s asbestos removal works in the VIC, a new conference building, previously designated “C2”, now termed “M Building”, was constructed over the existing parking deck near the southern perimeter of the campus, and put into service in 2009.
The M building hosted all conferences during the renovation of the C building (previously the main conference facility) from 2009 to 2013. Both M and C buildings are now being used for meetings. Very large conferences can be accommodated in the neighbouring Austria Center Vienna[2] (ACV), a separate conference and exhibition centre with a capacity of 6,000, which is with the VIC campus part of the UNO-City. The ACV has an indoor link to the VIC buildings. It is guarded by United Nations security personnel, since the VIC has exterritorial status; the ACV does not.
The Vienna International Centre offers shopping opportunities to its staff, and the staff of Permanent Missions and other international organizations based in Vienna. The Commissary, so named after similar facilities for U.S. military personnel at various duty stations, offers an international selection of foodstuffs and household items, thus catering to expatriate employees (and selected family members) who may purchase familiar items that are not readily available in the host country Austria. The store is run by the IAEA on a non-profit basis.
Kaisermühlen
