Majolikahaus, Vienna (Austria)

Charming Majolikahaus, or Majolica House, shapes the left of the two adjacent apartment Linke Wienzeile Buildings standing on the north side of the namesake main street in the Mariahilf (district), central Vienna in Austria.

Occupying No 40, the edifice was designed and raised in 1898 by prominent Austrian architect and urban planner Otto Wagner on the lines of the Vienna Secession style that he so passionately advocated against the long prevalent historicist trend in the Austrian capital in his time.

The building owes its name to its entirely majolica (lead-glazed earthware tiles) laid façade that is bursting with floral motifs and vibrant colours, designed by Wagner’s student Alois Ludwig, while it features colourful wrought iron balconies beautifully nestled on either far side.

Detail of the top of Majolica House

Kirche am Steinhof, Vienna, virtual tour

Hofburg, Vienna, virtual tour

Kirche am Steinhof, Otto-Wagner-Spital, Vienna

Kirche am Steinhof, or Church of St. Leopold, is a graceful oratory that stands on a hillside overlooking the premises of the spectacular Otto-Wanger-Spital at Steinhof in the borough of Penzing, northwest Vienna (Austria).

It was designed and built by prominent architect Otto Wagner, a leading figure and member of the Vienna Secession, between 1904 and 1907 as part of the Steinhof Psychiatric Hospital as was the name of the complex at the time.

Apart from Wagner’s own work, the building features mosaics and stained glass windows by Koloman Moser along with sculptural angels by Othmar Schimkowitz as well as statues of Saint Leopold and Saint Severin, the two patron saints of Lower Austria, on the two external towers by Richard Luksch.

Contrary to the norm, it is oriented on a north-south axis and its floor slopes upwards as in a theatre where hardly any crosses are visible around and the pulpit can be accessed only through the vestry.

The oratory was inaugurated by Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in early October 1907 despite his ongoing discord with Wagner at the time.

Secession Building, the Landmark of Vienna Secession

The arresting Secession Building (Secessionsgebäude in German) is an exhibition hall that is situated on the west side of Karlsplatz (Charle’s Square) within the Innere Stadt (first district) in Vienna, Austria.

It shapes the oldest independent exhibition venue worldwide dedicated to contemporary art, completed in 1898, and was designed by architect Joseph Maria Olbrich as an architectural manifesto for the Vienna Secession, an art movement that emerged in the very late 19th century.

Closely related to Art Nouveau, the Vienna Secession (Wiener Secession) was formed in early April 1897 by a group of noted Austrian painters, sculptors, graphic artists and architects such as Josef Hoffman, Gustav Klimt and Koloman Moser that were shortly joined by Otto Wagner.

They all resigned earlier from the Association of Austrian Artists by means of a protest against its hard and fast traditional artistic styles so as to promote (modern) art over commerce with 85-year-old Rudolf von Alt as the Honorary President of the group.

A principal object of the group was to attain an exhibition venue that would help introduce international artists and art movements to Vienna so appointed Olbrich, a student of Wagner, to design the Secession Building in the heart of the city, which became their landmark.

The motto of the Secession figures above the entrance of the pavilion to the effect of “To every age its art, to every art its freedom,” with a sculpture of three gorgons representing painting, sculpture and architecture beneath.

Among their major events, the 14th Secession exhibition laid out by Hoffman and dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven in April through to June 1902 was met by great success and praise, featuring Klimt’s acclaimed 34-metre-wide ‘Beethoven Frieze’ that can be still seen there nowadays.

Vienna Secession – Majolikahaus

The magnificent Art Nouveau elevator at Majolikahaus, or Majolica House, located on Linke Wienzeile 40 in central Vienna, designed and constructed by Otto Wagner in 1898.

Schloss Belvedere, Vienna (Austria)

Schloss Belvedere is a historic building complex that comprises two Baroque palaces, the Upper (picture, north facade) and Lower Belvedere, the Orangery and the Palace Stables lying in the third district of Vienna, northeast Austria.

The construction of the complex started by around 1712 with the Lower (north) palace, described as the Lustschloss in its early days, and was concluded about eleven years later with the completion of the Upper (south) equivalent in 1723 under Austrian architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, intended as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy.

All the same, the Upper Belvedere’s Sala Terrena presented serious structural issues that could even bring about a collapse so Hildebrandt was called in again to bolster it up by means of four Atlas pillars topped by a vaulted ceiling in winter 1732-1733.

The extensive Baroque garden’s layout, meanwhile, was substantially shaken up by French garden designer Dominique Girard between January and May 1717 so that it would be stepped up and completed by summer 1718.

It shaped up as a jardin à la française (French formal garden), bordered with clipped hedging around, that featured gravelled walks and Jeux d’eau (water games).

At the time, Vienna shaped the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and entertained the reigning Habsburg dynasty enjoying a building spree following the Prince’s, a Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal), successful military campaigns against the Ottoman Empire.

Today, the complex further houses the namesake museum while the Lower palace and the Orangery serve as exhibition halls.

The name ‘Belvedere’ is Italian spelling ‘Fair View’ though it could be Celtic in its deepest origins.

Glossary

Lustschloss: rendered as ‘maison de plaisance’ in French, it is a small country house or palace that served as a retreat for its owner, usually a local ruler, and was seasonally occupied.