The Park Hotel

Austrian artist Andreas Strauss created an unconventional way of short-term accommodation in reinforced concrete sewer pipes located in the village of Ottensheim on the western outskirts of Linz. At the beginning, Strauss asked himself a simple question: could there be accommodation that operates similarly to a self-service luggage storage? The first version of the concept "dasparkhotel" was created in 2005 and was installed in a public park on the left bank of the Danube just a few hundred meters from Strauss's studio, allowing the author to keep the entire concept under supervision while also ensuring smooth operation. Interested parties receive a code to access one of the three cells after making an online reservation, where up to two people can sleep. Financial compensation is done in the form of a voluntary contribution left on-site upon departure (later, a minimum amount of 20 euros per night was set). Inside, apart from a double bed and storage space, there is only a lamp and an electrical outlet. At the back of the concrete capsule, there is a cut ventilation opening, and a circular skylight in the ceiling offers a view of the sky from the bed. The huge pipes also contain sanitary facilities (one serves as a shower and the second as a barrier-free toilet) and a snack kiosk. The model of seasonal accommodation (from May to October) in sewer pipes ultimately proved to be viable, and Strauss replicated the same principle in two other locations in northern Germany (Park Hotel-BernePark near Essen opened in 2015 and has a capacity of 5 rooms). The idea caught the attention of not only German-speaking architectural magazines but also the New York Times reported on it.