Description of the attraction
The Vienna House of Artists is a venue for art exhibitions. It is located on Karlplatz next to the Ringstrasse.
The Artist's House was built in 1865-1868 by the Austrian Artistic Community, the oldest community in Austria, and has since served as an exhibition center for painting, sculpture, architecture and applied arts.
The architect of the building was August Weber (1836-1903). Several types of Austrian stone were used during the construction. Emperor Franz Joseph I laid the cornerstone. The opening took place on September 1, 1868. The artist's house was designed in the style of the Italian Renaissance. The building was expanded in early 1882 with a pair of side wings, which later housed a cinema (from 1949) and a theater (from 1974), and in 1882 the "First International Art Exhibition" was held.
In the 20th century, the building of the Artist's House turned out to be unusually low for the developing Ringstrasse. The management was asked to either agree to the demolition of the building, or at least to significantly rebuild it. In the early 1930s, it was proposed to replace the historic pavilion with new eight-story block houses.
Another notable incident was Karl Schwanzer's 1966 plan to build IBM offices on the site of the Artist's House. This proposal was met with great disapproval among citizens and the media. The rising wave of protest saved the building from inevitable destruction. However, talks about the demolition of the building rise again and again nowadays.
Today, the House of Artists is a two-story exhibition space with an area of 2,000 square meters with an extensive program of events. Media forums, exhibitions, summer festivals and various thematic debates are held here all the time.
