| |
 |
|
|
  |
|
Furniture & Interieurs
Otto Wagner expanded the traditional
understanding of what an
architect’s profession
comprised. He designed the entire
decoration and furnishings of the
Postal Savings Bank: floor
coverings, wall panelings, carpets
and rugs, radiators, lamps, clocks,
door handles, standing desks,
counters, stools, seats, chairs,
desks, wardrobes, wall racks, safes
– everything had to comply
with his ideas. On account of his
cost-awareness, he aimed at maximum
durability when choosing between
certain materials or modes of
construction.
Apart from that, Otto Wagner used
materials for defining hierarchical
structures. He had to furnish three
different areas: that of general
business, the representational rooms
of the management, and the internal
operations quarters. The different
designs of the Thonet armchair model
no. 6516 are probably the best
example for illustrating
Wagner’s approach.
 The armchair
for the management area was made of
mahogany-stained solid beech, its
seat upholstered in velvet, the high
sleeves for the feet were executed
in brass. On the level below, we
come upon the same model, yet
stained in grey and with armrests
and feet furnished with aluminum
fittings and sleeves.
Protecting the
armchair against wear, these details
also emphasize the value of the
piece and its character as an object
of art. The simplest variant used in
the small offices had a seat of
perforated plywood.
Otto Wagner’s stool for the
Postal Savings Bank used in the
Large Banking Hall certainly numbers
among the highlights within the
history of Viennese furniture.
Consisting of five separate bentwood
frames and having a perforated
plywood seat, the stool was based on
a simple construction and not
expensive to manufacture (10.50
crowns). The drill holes were
covered with aluminum disks, which
emphasize the construction and serve
as ornamental elements that relate
to the scheme of materials chosen
for the building.
The color scheme of the second floor
– white, grey, black, silver
– is only interrupted in the
representational rooms where red
(director’s office) and green
(reception areas) prevail.
All rooms
are covered with a 2.2-meter high
wainscoting, the walls above it with
striped textile wallpapers in the
color of the room. Carpets
manufactured by the Johann
Backhausen company after designs by
Otto Wagner covered the parquet
floors.
The original grey carpet in
the Large Meeting Hall with its
impressive measurements of 11.1 x
5.5 meters has survived.
Otto Wagner’s choice of materials
In his work “Moderne
Architektur” (“Modern
Architecture”), written in
1895, Wagner expounds on the
advantages of façade
claddings compared to the
traditional method of building with
“stone layers” and
“stone blocks,” which,
according to him, resembles the
“construction method of the
Ancient Romans”. The stone and
marble slabs for the façade
of the Postal Savings Banks had to
be fixed chiefly on account of the
the speed at which the work had to
progress. The measures called for
17,000 nails, which were made of
iron, clad with lead, and coated
with aluminum.
Otto Wagner relied on the most
modern technical solutions for the
construction and the interior
finishing of the building. The even
street façades are entirely
clad with granite and marble. The
large central courtyard above the
Banking Hall is tiled in white. The
rooms, corridors, and staircases
used by the public are covered with
marble and glass. All office
localities are simply painted white,
only the lower parts of the walls
are protected by strips of wood and
darker wallpapers.
The construction
of the ceilings is a bold and new
solution: a layer of asphalt was
spread directly on the concrete
ceiling, and the oak floor boards
were stuck onto the still soft
material. Regarding his choice of
linoleum as floor covering, Wagner
emphasizes that it is easy to
replace and had it fixed in sunk
settings of “granitto,”
a terrazzo variant, to prevent
tripping.
Having a glazed prism
floor installed in the Banking Hall
to light the rooms below was almost
the obvious solution for Wagner. In
its description, he not only refers
to the example of the Imperial and
Royal Private Austrian
Länderbank planned by him but
also to French bank buildings
“where glazed floors are
successfully used even through two
stories.”
|
|
|
|
 |
| WAGNER:WERK - MUSEUM POSTSPARKASSE - Georg Coch-Platz 2, 1018 Vienna |
|
|
