Jugendstil,
as seen through Otto Wagner
Otto Wagner's "Kaiser-Franz-Josephs-Stiftungs-Lazarett"
"Our conditions of life, our constructions
must be expressed fully and entirely. The realism of our time must penetrate
the work of art."
[1]
Otto Wagner
What was known as Art Nouveau throughout Europe took on a unique form in Vienna,
where it was termed Jugendstil. The Jugendstil movement in Vienna worked to create a new language
of architecture that preserved the historical values of art. Otto Wagner's architecture and teaching
represent this transition from historicism to the idea of an architecture
that spoke to its time. As the
first prominent Viennese architect to attempt to turn away from the accepted
traditional forms of architecture, Wagner's work brought together structural
rationalism and technology, while still retaining a sense of historicism
and eclecticism. Taking the first step in
the modernization of Viennese architecture, Wagner had enormous influence
on other avant-garde architects of the time, particularly as a teacher in
the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. Otto
Wagner created a style that "not only embraced, but clearly manifested
a distinct change in traditional sensitivity, and the emergence of purpose-built
structures in every sphere of architecture."
[2]
Wagner began as a traditional architect, but through his teaching
and practice began to develop an architecture that departed from the prevailing
practice of literally mimicking historical styles. Wagner started his architectural career
with buildings designed in the conventional Baroque and neo-classicism styles. It
wasn't until the 1890's, when Wagner was well over 50, that he changed his
style fundamentally and became the progressive artist he is known as, and
began to represent the ideas of Jugendstil
[3]
. In response to changes going on around
him, Wagner sought a distinct architectural language that still held on to
the artistic values of the past. Wagner
explored this idea of modernity in architecture through the designs of his
own buildings, in which he made use of new technology, materials, and simpler
ornamentation. He was critical
of the profusion of historicist architecture throughout Vienna, and tried
to understand the social aspects of this preoccupation. He said of a neo-Gothic church: "999
out of 1000 city dwellers will recognize this style, which will help to keep
them happy."
[4]
He argued that the minds of the
viewing public had been taken over by the art historians, who had replaced
the actual architecture, which people should have been reacting to, with information
about the architecture, and had therefore pushed them to conform to standard
taste. Wagner sought an architecture
that freed itself from all imitation, taking modern technical conditions into
account.
Wagner’s views on industrialization first set him apart from
other architects of his time, as he admired the machine and made efforts to
understand the consequences of industrialization on architecture and design.
He stated, "All modern forms must be in harmony with the new requirements
of our time,"
[5]
and he worked to incorporate new materials, such as iron,
into his work. Wagner often used symbols of industrialization
as decoration, using and exposing bolt heads. Wagner was also fervent in his opinions
concerning functionalism. Wagner
strongly believed that all art should have purpose, stating, "The practical
element in man, which is particularly pronounced at present, is evidently
here to stay and every architect is going to have to come to grips with the
postulate: 'a thing that is unpractical cannot be beautiful'."
[6]
This thinking can be seen through his
major architectural pursuits. Some of Wagner's most memorable buildings include the church
at Vienna's Steinhof sanitarium, several of the entrances for Vienna's city
railway, and the exquisite Postal Savings
Bank. These buildings vividly express
his argument for the return of more honest and functional architectural form.
Through his teaching and writing, Wagner had a major influence on the
next generation of architects, expanding the discussion of modern architecture,
and in turn, the younger avant-garde architects then influenced Wagner.
As professor and later Director at the Vienna Academy, Wagner challenged
his students to explore new ways of thinking about architecture and introduced
them to the ideas of Jugendstil. Josef
Hoffman, a student of Wagner's, stated "Everything improved under Wagner.
This artist knew how to instill enthusiasm into his school… there
was a real life and search for form."
[7]
While scorned by many for bringing such
liberal philosophy into the traditional school of art, Wagner’s students
responded enthusiastically to the questions he opened to them. In fact, they took Wagner’s notion
of modern architecture and developed it even further. Some of Wagner’s students, most
notably Joseph Maria Olbrich and Josef Hoffman, along with other progressive
artists of the time such as painter Gustav Klimt, split from the academy and
founded the Secession in 1897. These
artists 'seceded' from what they considered the false values of the Eclectic
period, and pledged to bring back artistic freedom and individuality.
Stimulated by the work of his students, in 1899, Wagner joined the
Secession, scandalizing Karl von Hasenaur and the Academy.
Wagner’s goal, which was
to create an architectural style truly distinct from the eclecticism seen
throughout Vienna, was never fully realized. When he published his Moderne Architektur in 1895, "he was preoccupied with making a
theoretical distinction between the old and the modern and enunciating the
terms of modernity which henceforward would be clear and irrevocable; however,
his language and points of reference still belong to a more established tradition
of architecture."
[8]
His work, while considered modern at the
time, still contained references to Classicism and neo-Renaissance, and never
completely departed from architecture of the past. Rather
than regeneration, one might describe his work as an extension of tradition.
But Wagner never
saw his buildings as a combination of traditional forms; rather, he tried
to bring together the construction and the purpose of a building by the usual
means of expression
[9]
. It was Wagner's desire for innovation, his yearning for
modernity, that separates him from traditional culture, and that ultimately
inspired his students to think in the same way.
Wagner succeeded in laying down the bridge from the historicism of
traditional Vienna to the Secession.
| A closer look: Wagner's Post Office Savings Bank |
| Adolf Loos |