Otto WAGNER

(1841-1918)

Austrian architect and urbanist

Wagner studied architecture at the School of Architecture at Vienna Academy, Austria, where he later became a teacher. Among his students were the renowned Art Nouveau architects Josef Maria Olbrich and Josef Hoffmann.

From 1895 he was influenced by new art styles, more suited to the needs of modern way of life and developed his theories on architecture, relating to function, material and construction, in the book "Modern Architecture" (1895). In 1898, he built his first Art Nouveau building, the Majolica House in Vienna, a functional structure with the facade covered in multicolored majolica tiles. He also designed in 1894, the Vienna metropolitan railway system.

Otto Wagner was one of the founding members of the Vienna Secession, with fellow artists Klimt, Hoffmann and Olbrich, in 1899. He was one of the most influential artists of the turn of the century : architect, urnbanist, applied artist and theoretician, his writings laid the groundwork for Modernism in architecture. In his architectural works, he was receptive to the use of modern methods of building (steel frame construction) and new materials (thin marble slabs for the façades).



Major works:

Majolica House on the Wienzeile, Vienna, Austria (1898-1899);
Stadtbahn (metropolitan railway system), Vienna (1894-1902);
Post Office Savings Bank (Die Österreichische Postsparkasse) Building, Vienna (1894-1902).