October 15, 2010

Modern the Right Way - Otto Wagner

Kirche am Steinhof, Vienna, Austria by Otto Wagner, 1907.

The chapel of the local insane asylum, the beauty of the church is striking. It manages to retain the essence of classical architecture while not being completely classical. The church is filled with remarkable and exquisite figurative art, thus maintaining an essentially Catholic character. The main altar is just astounding.

If all modern were like this, I'd hardly complain.




















2 comments:

Stephen said...

I'm gonna say something crazy here: That first picture especially, but also the second to a certain extent, make the exterior of this church look a bit like a mosque. I think the columns on the front entrance and the two stubby "towers" somehow look like minarets to me.

Maybe I'm just (wrongly) associating the Byzantine influence with mosques.

Samuel John Lima said...

I love this church, except for the gold gridded ceiling, which feels paper thin due to the grids clashing at the seams.

Blog Widget by LinkWithin