Reconstruction of the pavilion '20er Haus by Adolf Krischanitz

For the Brussels exhibition Expo'58, a whole series of interesting national exhibits were created. After its conclusion, some temporary pavilions were dismantled and transported back to the countries they represented in Brussels. The same was true for the Austrian pavilion '20er Haus', designed by Karl Schwanzer. In 1962, the pavilion was moved to the heritage-protected Swiss Garden of the Vienna Belvedere, where it served the needs of MUMOK until its relocation to MQ in 2001. Since then, the pavilion remained abandoned while a new use for it was being sought. In mid-November last year, after three years, the pavilion was reopened. The author of the reconstruction and expansion of '21er Haus' is Schwanzer's student Adolf Krischanitz, who won the architectural competition in 2003 with his project.
The main goal of '21er Haus' was to reduce the impact of the extension from Arsenalstrasse. The new façade is a citation of the existing grid and the access bridge surrounding the building. The freeing of the basement and the consistent connection to the existing topography led to a reassessment and a completely new designation of the site's tradition. The museum had to give up its gallery's monofunctionality. On the upper floor, there remains a fully air-conditioned exhibition space, while the ground floor is used for temporary exhibitions. The basement houses the collections of the private Fritz Wotruba Foundation, but also a café, a cloakroom, a children's workshop, storage, and technical facilities. The café in the sunken courtyard, which features sculptures by Fritz Wotruba, was designed by Krischanitz together with another Viennese architect Hermann Czech.

More information >