The Project

The main intention of this project is to analyze the works of one of the fathers of modern architecture, Otto Wagner, as he took steps to escape the constraints of historicism and define a new architectural language, which would function for, as well as represent, his world: Vienna at the turn of the 20th century.

While the buildings themselves are a century old, I feel that much can be learned from them. Most of all, I hope to learn from the process Wagner underwent in his attempts to define architecture for his time and place, as I feel this is something architecture students battle every day of their studies. I imagine contemporary architects battle the same thing every day of their careers as well.

- How does one learn from and respect the wisdom of the past and not copy it?
- How do we take example from those around us without, to some extent, re-creating what has already been done?
- How can we follow in the footsteps of our teachers, internalizing what we have learned, and yet define ourselves and our work independently from it?

Through studying the use of proportion, spatiality, material, and structure in works completed in the years around 1900, I hope to communicate how Otto Wagner developed an architectural style and language which, to this day, represents Vienna at the turn of the 20th century.

Progress on Länderbank Model

Work on the digital model of the Länderbank is coming along. I hope to finish the model this week and begin working on the model for the Postsparkasse. The drawings are progressing more slowly than I had hoped, due in great part to the almost entire lack of access to original drawings from the architects. Apparently I came during the wrong part of the summer and many libraries are closed, museums have restricted hours, and the one place that has original drawings by Otto Wagner is closed for renovations. So I am using drawings that fit on 8.5X11 or smaller page and am working out the scale as best I can, using photographs to fill in detail information that is illegible in the small drawings.

The model of the Länderbank is sectional, cut down the two axes of symmetry in the building. It will show the interior spaces and major structural elements of the building, as well as the facade. The purpose of the model and the drawings which will be derived from it, is to illustrate the use of both modern and traditional elements in the building.

It is easy to see from the use of doric columns, from the facade (not yet in the model) and from the apse-like banking hall space that Wagner took his inspiration from classical architecture. However, elements such as the flat glass roof (not yet in the model) and the vertical connections between spaces signaled Wagner's tendencies toward modern concepts.

Currently, the bottom 3 floors are complete. The facade and further 2 floors should be done in a few days. Visible in this quick plot of the model are the large banking hall, the entrance vestibule, the basement areas, and some of the offices.

Länderbank; an overview

I have chosen to look at the Österreichische Länderbank (1882). While the building looks to be neo-classical at first glance, the overall spatial concept, the treatment of walls, structural elements, and the resolution of the materials at the detail level are distinctively different. This building was one of his first steps toward modernism.

Österreichische Länderbank (1882)

Representative of the “Viennese Renaissance”, this building reflects the views that tradition is to be the departure point for creating modern architecture. Command of the forms and principles of a given period or style should allow the architect to adapt the chosen style to meet the needs of the current program.

Wagner’s classical training is evident in the modified rustication on the exterior, the use of doric columns, decorative cornicing, and the mannerist entry space.

Entrance Hall:

Banking Hall:

Ground Floor Plan:

Wagner’s Architectural Environment

19^th Century Vienna

19^th century Europe was driven by technological, scientific, social and economic changes brought about by the industrial revolution. Cities grew and urban life became the foundation for modern culture. These kinds of changes always bring about new style, but artistic style needs time to develop and it could not keep pace with the hastily progressing world. Unable to create a forward-looking style of their own, artists compensated by looking back, asserting the validity of tradition. It became recognized that, while law and science belonged to the modern age, art and beauty came from history. This included architecture. The job of the architect, therefore, was to exhibit command of all historical styles such that he was able to use these to meet the changing needs of modern life.

Wagner’s Vienna

13.Juli.1841: Otto Wagner was born in Penzing, near Vienna

1860s: After losses against France and Prussia, the imperial monarchy which had ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire gave way to a constitutional regime, with power shared between the liberals, the aristocracy and the imperial bureaucracy.

Current plans for the redevelopment of Vienna turned into a project led by the liberals to “beautify” the city as well as respond to the pace of expansion and economic growth that occurred as a result of industrialization.

1860: Wagner enrolled at the Akademie der bildende Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) in Vienna under the instruction of August von Siccardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, prominent architects of Vienna’s new opera house.

1868: After harsh criticism of the finished opera house, van der Nüll committed suicide.

1870s: The redevelopment of the Ringstrasse (a belt around the old city where the walls once stood) continued under the liberals. Having no history of its own, the new government of the multi-lingual, multi-national Austro-Hungarian Empire relied on historicism to create a feeling of continuity in the city. The monumental government buildings which would line the street were to be represented by their architectural style. That is, the historical association with the given style was used to communicate the function of the building, for example:

-the Rathaus (City Hall) was built in Gothic style, reflecting Vienna’s liberal origins as a medieval commune

-the Burgtheater (Palace Theater) reflected the unifying power of art in the baroque: the joining of cleric, courtier and commoner at the theater

-the University hoped to rival the much-praised architecture of Italian renaissance universities

-the Parliament building was built in the classical greek style to represent the dominance and importance of the new government. Furthermore, it was hoped that the noble, classical forms would have an idealizing effect on the representatives who worked in the building.

1880s: Critics of the new Ringstrasse more or less took one of two views, both of which were not without merit. Historicists saw the modification of historical styles to fit new needs as betrayal of tradition. Modernists saw attempts to mask modern life behind traditional facades as a betrayal of modern culture. However, traditional forms and principles continue to be used as the departure point for new building types. Wagner himself wrote, in the preface of his first publication “Einige Scizzen, Projecte u. ausgeführte Bauwerke” in 1889:

“A certain free Renaissance” – that is, a free and inventive use of Renaissance forms and motif – “that has assimilated our genius loci and taken the greatest possible account of all our circumstances and accomplishments in the use of materials and construction, is the only correct course for present and future architecture.”

1890s: The search for an appropriate artistic expression of modern life continues. Historicism loses precedence as Art Nouveau emerges. Wagner is appointed the position of professor at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts for his forward-thinking. In his manifesto titled “Moderne Architektur” (1^st ed. 1896), he states:

“One idea inspires this book, namely THAT THE BASIS OF TODAY’S PREDOMINANT VIEWS ON ARCHITECTURE MUST BE SHIFTED, AND WE MUST BECOME FULLY AWARE THAT THE SOLE DEPARTURE POINT FOR OUR ARTISTIC WORK CAN ONLY BE MODERN LIFE.”