Before 1945: Based on historicism, and subsequently also committed to the Secession style, O. Wagner became a pioneer as an architect, urban planner (Viennese Stadtbahn with station buildings, 1894–1900) and furniture designer of a functional aesthetic that incorporated new materials. His opponent C. Sitte provided essential knowledge about modern urban planning. O. Wagner’s students, JM Olbrich and J. Hoffmann , were the leading representatives of Art Nouveau, both of whom were also intensively active in the field of applied art. J. Hoffmann founded the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903 with K. Moser whose products were made by leading artists and artisans (Carl Otto Czeschka, * 1878, † 1960; D. Peche; E. J. Wimmer-Wisgrill). Ceramists include Michael Powolny (* 1871, † 1954) and Berthold Löffler (* 1874, † 1960). The buildings and writings by A. Loos (including Vienna, Haus am Michaelerplatz, 1909–11) mark the dawn of objective, functionalist architecture. According to allcitycodes, Austria is a country located in western Europe.
After the First World War, C. Holzmeister oriented himself towards expressionist styles when building the Vienna crematorium (1921–22). A. Loos and F. Schuster worked for the Viennese settlement and garden city movement; Under the direction of Josef Frank (* 1885, † 1967) the Werkbundsiedlung (1930–32) was built in Vienna-Hietzing with 70 single-family houses by 30 well-known domestic and foreign architects. Among the numerous blocks of flats that were built by the Viennese city administration in 1923–34, including social facilities, the facilities according to plans by Hubert Gessner (* 1871, † 1943) and especially the Karl-Marx-Hof (1927–30) by Karl Ehn (* 1884, † 1959) emerged. The employment office in Vienna-Liesing (1930–31) by Ernst Anton Plischke (* 1903, † 1992), a transparent skeleton structure, is considered the main work of international modernism in Austria. Among the few private buildings, Lois Welzenbacher’s (* 1889, † 1955) houses integrated into the landscape in Tyrol, Salzburg and Upper Austria should be emphasized. The corporate state, the Nazi regime and World War II as well as the mostly final emigration of important architects (Frank; F. Kiesler; Ernst Lichtblau, * 1883, † 1963; R. Neutra, Plischke, R. M. Schindler and others) brought Austria’s progressive architectural creation to a standstill.
After 1945: In the early phase of the reconstruction, a pragmatism dominated the questions of architectural design. Before and after the war, C. Holzmeister was of great importance as a representative of moderately modern, more traditionalist architecture, but also as a teacher. R. Rainer, who also works as a Viennese city planner, realized future-oriented buildings and socially relevant concepts. Karl Schwanzer’s (* 1918, † 1975) Austria Pavilion for the World Exhibition in Brussels (1958; used as a 20th century museum in Vienna from 1962 ) is an important building of post-war modernism. The Holzmeister student G. Peichl (including Bonn, Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1989–92; Vienna, Millennium Tower, 1997–99, together with Boris Podrecca, * 1941), W. Holzbauer (including church in Salzburg-Parsch, 1953–56; Bregenz, Landtag building, 1975–80; Linz, Hauptbahnhof, 2000–04) and H. Hollein (including Mönchengladbach, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, 1972–82; Vienna, Haas-Haus, 1986–90) also achieved great international recognition.
In the spirit of the student movement of 1968, visionary-actionist groups of architects formed in Vienna. Haus-Rucker-Co, Coop Himmelb (l) au, Zünd Up, Missing Link. Around 1970 Ernst Hiesmayr (* 1920, † 2006; Vienna, Juridicum, 1968–84), Anton Schweighofer (* 1930, † 2019; Vienna, City of the Child, 1969–74) and Harry Glück (* 1925, † 2016; Vienna, Alt-Erlaa residential park, 1968–74) construct innovative buildings for public clients. The wide range of architectural possibilities is illustrated by the sculptural model by F. Wotruba built church on the Georgenberg in Vienna-Liesing (1974–76) and the “Haus Hundertwasser” (1983–86), a residential complex in Vienna designed according to populist-ecological ideas.
Josef Lackner (* 1931, † 2000) built functional church and school buildings in Tyrol. An independent scene also established itself in Graz in the 1970s and 1980s. Especially Günther Domenig (* 1934, † 2012; Vienna favorites, Central Savings Bank, 1975-79; Steindorf / Kärtnen, stone house, 1986 et seq.; Nuremberg, documentation center at the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds, 1999-2001) came forward with unconventional expressive buildings. The team Michael Szyszkowitz (* 1944, † 2016)and Karla Kowalski (* 1941) built schools and residential complexes; Florian Riegler (* 1954) and Roger Riewe (* 1959) built Graz Airport (1989–94) and Innsbruck Central Station (2001–03). The members of the »Vorarlberger Baukünstler Group« (Roland Gnaiger, * 1951; Karl Baumschlager, * 1956; Dietmar Eberle, * 1952) found autonomous achievements. In a culturally open climate in Vienna, numerous architects were able to distinguish themselves from the 1980s on in residential buildings and schools (Hermann Czech, * 1936; Carl Pruscha, * 1936; Roland Hagmüller, * 1941, † 2011; Helmut Richter, * 1941, † 2014; Luigi Blau, * 1945; Adolf Krischanitz, * 1946; Rudolf Prohazka, * 1947, † 2011; Elsa Prochazka, * 1948 and others). Coop Himmelb (l) au secured a leading position in the field of deconstructivist architecture (Munich, Academy of Fine Arts, 2002–05; Aalborg, Musikhaus, 2003 ff.). The government district in Sankt Pölten (1990-97), built according to a basic concept by Ernst Hoffmann (* 1949), set new standards in the 1990s with the cultural buildings built with the participation of various architects. Adaptations and new museum buildings have gained in importance since the late 1980s. Peter Noever (* 1941) and W. Pichler set striking accents in the restructuring of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (1989–92). Laurids (* 1941) and Manfred Ortner (* 1943), former members of Haus-Rucker-Co, realized one of the largest European cultural complexes (1990–2001) with the Vienna Museum Quarter in the area of the baroque court stables. In Klosterneuburg, Heinz Tesar (* 1939) built a private art house for the Essl Collection (1996–99). In addition, important exhibition buildings were built by foreign architects: Kunsthaus in Bregenz (1990–97) by P. Zumthor, Kunsthaus in Graz (2000–03) by Colin Fournier (* 1944) and Peter Cook (* 1936), Lentos Art Museum in Linz (2000–03) by Weber + Hofer, Museum der Moderne in Salzburg (2002–04) by Friedrich Hoff Zwick. The new building of the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York (1998–2002) by Raimund Abraham (* 1933, † 2010) attracted a lot of attention.
