Vienna...4th July.

Today was to be a gentle stroll in the city.... I am here for the week so no rush....

My first target was the Post Office, close to my apartment.... For those not interested in architecture, this wasn't' to buy a few stamps, but to visit the Postal Savings Bank building designed by Otto Wagner and opened at the beginning of the 20C. 

Walking over the Wienfluss (not to be confused with the Donaukanal), making sure not to walk on the bike lane in the pavement.. friendly bell rings to warn to get out the way... not easy initially to work out the lane..

On the other side of the river.. (see pictures later below) I noticed an enormous cantilevered platform straddling the river boulevard ... and just finishing above the river. I measured this at about 14 metres. It had seemingly no purpose other than to link a garden behind with the river

but recognising the boulevard by inserting a circular hole to allow a tree to grow through... Clearly the tree was planted as part of the cantilever construction.

The reason became clear walking past the entrance to the adjacent building; this was the University of Applied Arts Vienna. The original building faces the Ringstrasse and originally known as the Kunstgewerbeschule (Vienna School of Arts and Crafts).  The building fronting the Wienfluss is a modern wing that encloses the garden and is predominately houses the architecture school. 

I wandered in to look and asking the receptionist if I could see the architecture school he waved me upstairs... 

All the faculties in the university...architecture school to the left...

The main stair in the architecture  wing; simple but perfectly executed design. Not  possible to design this in the UK due to building regulations........

I was able to wander through the studios, separate studios on each floor.. each studio designed to reflect the aims and purpose of the studio but importantly accessible space to present work to the wider school and university. Final presentations completed in June but there were a few students in the building. They seemed unfazed by me walking through the studios; surely proof of the desire to be accessible to a wider audience.

Hani Rashid's studio

It looked a wonderful place to study...according to Wikipedia, there are over 70 nationalities studying in the university; 60% Austrian but 40% from other European and other countries.

Walking on, I crossed the Ringstrasse and reached the Post Office building, set back from the Ringstasse; its position off the boulevard one of the reasons why the new architecture was allowed...

On the opposite side of the boulevard is the archetypal late 19C imperial building, the Regierungsgebaude, the former ministry of war building now occupied by other government departments, that Adolf Loos was so dismissive of...

Walking up to the building, now a museum to both the savings bank and to Otto Wagner..

A curiosity in front of the Regierungsgebaude.. wilted... 

Austrian Postal Savings Bank:

This is one of the most important buildings in Vienna, the move away from neo-renaissance architecture, still being built at the time, to reflect the contemporary era of technology and buildings fit for their purpose. 

This building is a key manifestation of the Viennese Secessionist movement, part of the wider Art Nouveau movement.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/architecture-20c/a/wagner-postal-savings-bank

The reception hall leading up to the main hall.. 

A glass roof was constructed above the original in 2010 to project this structure below

Aluminium clad columns and original lighting

Aluminium ventilation outlets...

Glass block floors

Otto Wagner chose of a small use of materials (aluminium, marble, linoleum, plaster) that were durable and reduced the level of maintenance required for his client. There is a quote in the museum that reflects his philosophy.... also natural light, for the visitors as well as those working in the building....

    The museum is located at the rear of the building in the later post office entrance..

All furniture was designed by Otto Wagner's studio. I liked that an ottoman was designed for the director offices. I/m sure modern CEO's would secretly like this too....

Open plan offices... not a new workplace invention.......
The rear of the building probably expresses how 'modern' this building was when constructed compared with its neighbour, a typical example of a building being constructed at the time...

The large roof overhang protected the face materials. The use of the visible fixings to hold each marble panel to the facade allowed the material to be thinner, save costs and be installed faster... (Wikipedia in their article is wrong in their description of this..)
The museum suggests that the Viennese architectural establishment was happy that Otto Wagner won this competition as it would keep him busy from designing other buildings on the Ringstrasse.. in their opinion their domain.. 

Opposite the rear entrance, someone was digging a huge hole....