162 CultureShock! Austria
Wagner worked assiduously to achieve his goal. He ended
up designing the entire railway system (all 36 stations),
which connected the inner city to the suburbs. He was also
responsible for major city and traffic planning, especially
the regulation of the Danube Canal and the Wien River.
He designed the Postal Savings Bank, where space was
used economically for 2,000 workers. The Steinhof, or the
Golden City on the hill, is a church that Wagner designed
with function in mind as it was to be used for the mentally
handicapped. The Majolica House, its exterior decorated
with coloured ceramic, faces the Naschmarkt; it was built
to fulfill sanitary requirements, with materials that made it
easy to maintain.Adolf Loos (1870–1933)
Loos also wanted to modernise the Viennese. He preferred
clear-cut lines to ornamentation. Defending the aesthetic
principle that usefulness is elegance and ornamentation
is a form of ostentation, he paid more attention to the
interior of buildings. He believed that designs should only
reflect the feel of a place: a bar should be comfortable, a
prison should show strength, and a bank should have the
look of safety. His buildings were space-saving, economical,
useful and had a comfortable style. His thrift influenced
him to use sunlight to illuminate interiors. Many of the
apartments he designed offer highly original solutions to
severe spatial problems, using materials thoughtfully and
with as little expense as possible. The stores he designed
used brass, linoleum, marble and glass to form interiors
that have been described as having ‘geometric elegance and
clinical precision’. His most famous works in Vienna are the
American Bar, Cafe Museum and the House on Michaelerplatz
(now a bank).Painting
Gustav Klimt (1862–1918)
Klimt was revered by his Secessionist friends as one of the
best painters of his time. He was so popular that he was
elected the president of the Secession. Like many of his