Infrastructure in the river – Architecture Days 2026 hosted at the Abwinden-Asten VERBUND power plant

"Energy is not an abstract principle, but a material process. It flows through our daily life as a technologically organised stream: bundled in pipelines, regulated by networks, transformed in power plants. It usually remains invisible – precisely because it functions so reliably. But each kilowatt hour is bound to specific spaces, infrastructures and interventions." — Professor of Building Culture, University of Arts Linz

With this approach, the Institute for Architecture with a focus on building culture at the University of Arts Linz organised an excursion to the Abwinden-Asten run-of-river power plant, together with the afo architekturforum oö and VERBUND, as part of Architecture Days 2026. The construction methods and history of Danube power plants in Upper Austria will be discussed in line with this year’s theme, "What unites us – everyday infrastructure".

Some participants came by bicycle, accompanied by University Professor Heidi Pretterhofer, University Professor Michael Rieper, University Assistant Eva Mair-Zeller and Paul David Daubek-Puza.

On 30th May, around 25 visitors attended our power plant under the experienced management of VERBUND-Stromhaus CEO Herbert Wagner. Subsequently, the architecture students showed their work on one of the most important infrastructures of everyday life: structures for generating electricity and how these energy flows structure landscapes.

Integrating into the landscape

Herbert Wagner guided visitors through the complex: "The Abwinden-Asten VERBUND power plant is a typical structure of the Danube power plants built in the 1970s and early 1980s and was built in a low-rise style," says Wagner, adding: "the idea was not to make an architectural statement, but to blend in with the landscape — almost invisibly. That is why the building is designed for internal functionality and optimised operational processes."

Infrastructure in the river

The infrastructure in the river excursion sees motion as a method. On a guided bike ride from the main square in Linz along the Danube to the Abwinden-Asten run-of-river power plant, energy became legible as a spatial and social order. Guided tours of the interior of the power plant provided insights into its technical and spatial logic. On the subsequent power picnic, architectural concerns were presented: How do energy flows structure landscapes? Which technical, environmental and social systems overlap in the river basin and in the network?

The tour showed infrastructure as a shaping practice – between nature and technology, everyday life and global circulation – and made their material conditions tangible on location.

28–30 May 2026
What unites us – everyday infrastructure

Architecture Days — the biennale festival for architectural culture and engineering technology — is the largest public event for architecture and architectural culture in Austria. Curated and implemented by Austria’s 10 architectural institutions, this year’s event was held from 28 to 30 May 2026 under the motto "What unites us – everyday infrastructure."

More information at:

• University of Arts Linz: Infrastructure in the River and Architecture Days 2026 and
• Architecture Days 2026 — afo architekturforum oberösterreich