Page - 98 - in Nikola Tesla and the Graz Tech

98 Postscript References For these functional requirements, the following prerequisites and test fa- cilities are available: • Shielding attenuation: 100 dB • Alternating voltage cascade: 1500 kV, 50 Hz, 1500 kVA • Direct voltage cascade: 1500 kV, 20 mA continuous • Impulse voltage generator: 2900 kV lightning impulse 1800 kV Switching surge negative 1400 kV switching surge positive • Insulating-oil processing and vacuum plant • 1100-kV bushing with test vessel • Open-air test area for tests under wet conditions While architectural critics initially suspected futuristic perspectives in the technical design of the high-voltage laboratory as a symbol of the hopes asso- ciated with technology in the 1960s /1/, today it must be stated that the ar- chitecture of the hall has not lost its formal and constructive fascination after almost 50 years. On the contrary, in its timeless architecture characterised by function, it has become an example of high aesthetic quality. By naming the high-voltage hall after the name of the pioneer of alternating current technology, Nikola Tesla, on the occasion of his 150th birthday on 10 July 2006, interest is directed to a great scientist of electrical engineering and at the same time to an exciting monument to technology. The author would like to thank Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Heiner Hierzegger for information about the competition and Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Werner Lick for information about the technical features of the building. /1/ Friedrich Achleitner, Österreichischer Architektur im 20. Jahrhundert, Band II, Salzburg 1983