WAGNER, Otto
(b. 1841, Penzing, d. 1918, Wien)

Länderbank: interior

1882
Photo
Hohenstaufengasse 3, Vienna

A significant early work by Wagner is the Länderbank in Vienna. Its external appearance could have held its own among the Functionalist works of the 1920s. During this period Wagner was developing an approach based upon the integration of decoration with underlying forms related to building function rather than prescribed styles, which enabled him to develop flexible spatial planning systems that became common practice only decades later.