The multicolored roof tiles of St. Stephen's Cathedral form a massive, zigzagging pattern of yellow, green, and blue that dominates the Vienna skyline. This Gothic structure rose over the ruins of two earlier churches starting in the…
Modern Architecture Battles
This self-guided walk charts the fierce design clashes of Vienna's historic center, where ultra-modern architecture sits directly opposite centuries-old imperial monuments. You will stand before the stark facades, metallic interventions, and mirrored glass that shocked local traditionalists and shaped the city's ongoing debate over preservation versus progress.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →
1. St. Stephen's Cathedral
2. Haas-Haus
The Haas-Haus features a curved glass facade that reflects the gothic spires of Saint Stephen’s Cathedral directly across the square. Designed by Hans Hollein and completed in nineteen ninety, this building replaced a bombed-out structure…
3. Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial
The Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial features a massive, concrete block shaped like a library with its shelves turned inward. Sculptor Rachel Whiteread created this structure to honor the sixty-five thousand Austrian Jews murdered by the…
4. Schullin Wien
Schullin Wien holds the corner of the Kohlmarkt with a facade of dark, polished marble and gold lettering that stays fixed in place despite the centuries of change around it. This jeweler began as a workshop in the Austrian province of…
5. Retti Kerzengeschäft
The Retti shopfront on Kohlmarkt is wrapped in a distinctive, shimmering gold-anodized aluminum frame that stops pedestrians in their tracks. Hans Hollein designed this tiny jewelry store in nineteen sixty-five, replacing a traditional…
6. Looshaus
The Looshaus features a stark, unadorned white facade that abruptly cuts off the ornate stone carving typical of the surrounding Michaelerplatz. Architect Adolf Loos designed this building in nineteen ten for the tailoring firm Goldman and…
7. Albertina
The Albertina displays a massive, metallic wing that projects over the entrance stairs, hovering like a giant razor blade above the pavement. This building began as a palace for Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen in the seventeen hundreds. He…