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Architecture

Otto Wagner (1841–1918)

Born in Vienna and educated in Vienna and Berlin, Otto Wagner was in many ways the father of modern architecture in Vienna. The buildings he designed determined the appearance of Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century.

Vienna's chief architect

Otto Wagner was the chief architect for much of the rebuilding of Vienna in the latter part of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century – during which time he became increasingly radical in his approach.

He was responsible for major buildings in Vienna from the late 1870s, but also for projects that we would now define as engineering and urban planning. He designed the urban railway network, its bridges and handsomerailway stations, a new city plan (which, though influential, was not implemented) and canal system containing the River Danube.

While his early buildings looked back to previous centuries in their historical references, by the late 1890s he had embraced the new European style of Art Nouveau (called Jugendstil – or Youth style – in German-speaking countries).

Radical architecture

In 1894, Wagner was appointed Professor of Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he gathered students to the cause of a reforming, radical architecture. His 1896 textbook Modern Architecture calls for a changed philosophy: 'New human tasks and views called for a change or reconstitution of existing forms'. This philosophy became increasingly evident in his buildings.