Schlagwort: 1030wien

Completed in 1901, the building of the former Portios & Fix company – important furniture manufacturers in Austria-Hungary – by Max Fabiani in Ungargasse in the 3rd district shows the full skill of this extraordinary architect of functionalist modernism. The attic with its semicircular, wrought-iron eaves lattice and the strikingly geometric, colorful tiling of the grid-like façade is considered an important early work by Fabiani, a student of Otto Wagner.

Among the best-known buildings of his extensive oeuvre are the „Urania“ public education center, the Artaria publishing house on Kohlmarkt and several private villas in Vienna and Slovenia.

The Don Bosco Church (parish church Neuerdberg) in the 3rd district planned by Robert Kramreiter, was opened after 4 years of construction in 1958 on the site of an elementary school destroyed in WWII and forms with its well-proportioned form with powerful west work a beautiful example of post-war modernism (Mid-century modern) in Vienna.

The (presumably) first exposed concrete wall in Austria, equipped with concrete dimension work by Rudolf Szyszkowitz and the central portal with enamel mosaic by Otto Beckmann form the prelude to the clearly arranged basilical section of the interior, richly equipped with glass windows. At the start we are greeted by a statue of the 1934 canonized Ital. Priest and founder of the order Giovanni Melchiore Bosco, who was committed to disadvantaged children and young people throughout his life.

Besides the light-diffusing wall with stained glass windows by Georg Meistermann, the Stations of the Cross designed by Hermann Bauch, the choir windows by Margret Bilger and the „Symbols of Love in the Form of a Cross“ by Kurt Absolon are particularly impressive.

The listed Hotel Daniel on Gürtelstraße in the 3rd district near the Belvedere from 1962 was originally built as an office building for the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La-Roche and designed by the Austrian/Swiss architect duo Georg Lippert and Roland Rohn.

In the course of the takeover by the hotel operator and the renovation of the building with the curtain-wall style used for the first time in Austria to create the striking green glass facade in 2011, a work of art by the successful Austrian artist Erwin Wurm in the form of a curved sailboat called „Misconceivable“ was also installed on the roof.

The installation of the stranded airship, originally planned for only 4 years, perhaps also references Vienna’s location by the sea until a few million years ago.

The garden palace Rasumofsky in the 3rd district of 1806 commemorates Prince Andrei Kirillowitsch Rasumowski, who played an important diplomatic role as Russian envoy at the Viennese court and is considered the most important classicist palace in Vienna. Just as the reorganization of Europe was being negotiated in the course of the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815, part of the building burned down along with valuable art treasures, and was rebuilt in a simplified form.

About 20 years later, after the death of the art collector, patron of the arts (including Beethoven) and diplomat, the estate was taken over by Prince Alois II Lichtenstein. Then state-owned from 1873, it was used, among other things, as the site of the Federal Geologische Bundesanstalt, later parts of the property were partitioned off and built up, and in the early 2000s it was sold into private ownership and renovated.

Court architect Louis Montoyer, who was also involved in the remodeling of the Albertina and in extensions to the Hofburg, built not only the mighty portico on the garden side with Ionic columns, but also a representative banqueting hall (which is not open to the public) and the formerly extensive farm buildings and stables. In the interwar period, this was also the residence of the important Austrian writer Robert Musil.

The Lower Belvedere from 1716 as part of the Baroque palace complex of the Belvedere was built by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and served Prince Eugene as his actual residence in summer, the Upper Belvedere was usually used only on special occasions.

The center of the complex is the representative two-story marble hall, which shows the achievements of the imperial commander-in-chief Prince Eugene at the beginning of the 18th century. The monumental ceiling fresco by Martino Altomonte with Apollo in the sun chariot and the prince as a naked hero receiving the papal gifts of honor from Mercury was triggered by the victorious battle of Peterwardein against the numerically superior Ottoman Empire.

In addition to the wall division with war trophies, the plaster medallions with scenes from the life of Apollo set in the reddish-brown stucco marble with mock paintings on the walls also indicate the prince’s fine spiritual interests.

The depictions of Emperor Charles IV and his first wife Queen Blanca of Valois are located on the south tower of St. Stephen’s Cathedral and can be viewed in their original form in the Lower Belvedere. To emphasize the dynastic representative function, Duke Rudolf IV („the founder“) commissioned these Gothic masterpieces – the so-called princely figures.

The artists from the 14th century are unknown, but the statues are made of one cast and impress with elegant hip swing. The lions on which they stand represented their power. The two representations of Emperor Charles IV and his first wife Queen Blanca of Valois are located on the South tower of St. Stephen’s Cathedral and can be seen in original in the Lower Belvedere.