Vienna. Buildings by Nobel Prize winners

Vienna’s architecture scene is thriving. The former imperial city contains top-class buildings by well-known architects. The annual Pritzker Architecture Prize is the architectural equivalent of the Nobel Prize. Previous winners Hans Hollein, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Zaha Hadid and Jean Nouvel have all created architectural landmarks in Vienna: From the Gasometer to the Haas House and the WU Campus.

  

Who does not recognize St. Stephan’s Cathedral as the symbol of Vienna? Since 1990 its image has been reflected across the square in the glass façade of the Hans Hollein-designed Haas Haus. Hollein became the first Austrian to win the Pritzker in 1985, the world’s most prestigious architecture prize. The prize was first awarded in 1979 by American hoteliers Jay and Cindy Pritzker, owners of the Hyatt chain. The annual award comes with a cash prize of USD 100,000 and is comparable to a Nobel Prize. Previous winners include Philipp Johnson, Richard Meier, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, Rem Koolhaas.

Hollein’s Haas Haus is just one of the many spectacular structures that gives Vienna a modern image, despite the ever-present baroque splendour. This pioneer of post-modernism has created commercial spaces for clients including Schullin Jewelers (1984). He also worked on the ramp at the Albertina (2003) and the renovations of the Hilton Hotel (2002). Hollein has also designed several office towers in and around Vienna, including the Mediatower (2001) on the Danube canal and the towers for construction firm PORR on the Laaer Berg (2003).

In 1991 Swiss architectural duo Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron completed a housing estate on Pilotengasse in the Vienna suburbs. Over 200 single-family homes were constructed on stilts with earth-tone paints used on the exteriors to reinforce a direct relationship between the structures and the terrain. In 2001 Herzog and de Meuron were awarded the Pritzker Prize in recognition of their work. Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid designed an apartment house elevated on stilts in Spittelauer Lände that straddles Otto Wagner’s historic commuter train arches. The project was completed in 2005. Her spectacular library building on the new campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration was opened in 2013.

The most recent winner of the Pritzker Prize is the French architectural star Jean Nouvel. He was awarded the 2008 prize for his life’s work. Nouvel created a distinctive apartment complex in Vienna’s 21st district in 1998. Each building has an E-shaped floor plan and exudes Mediterranean charm. His most outstanding project, however, is one of the four former gas towers in Simmering—a distinctive example of industrial architecture in this new district that started to spring up in 2001. Rather than completely rebuilding the interior of Gasometer A, Nouvel instead elected to construct living spaces in the towers that is molded to fit the inside of the curved exterior walls. The glass roof and use of materials such as glass and steel create a sense of airiness. The Hotel Hotel SO/ Vienna on the Danube Canal, which opened at the end of 2010, is Jean Nouvel's latest masterpiece in Vienna. The interesting multi-story building, also called Nouvel Tower, presents a different structure from every angle.