Wettbewerbs-Entwurf fur das Kaiser Franz Josef Stadtmuseum; Kennwort; Opus=IV

Vienna: Wagner, 1912. Tall thin 4to. (40.6 x 30.5 cm). Original self-wrappers; 12 pp. Slight dust-staining, minor browning to edges; overall very good. Otto Wagner was an Austrian architect, furniture designer, and urban planner, as well as a leader of the Vienna Secession and Art Nouveau movements. Through his architectural designs within his native city of Vienna, one can see his transformation from Classical inspiration to the stylized designs of Vienna Secession and Art Nouveau, to geometric and minimalist designs which predate modern architecture.

Some of his most noteworthy accomplishments were the Rumbach Street synagogue in Budapest, Villa Wagner - a home he built for himself with elements inspired by Palladio, and the headquarters of the Länderbank, the Karlsplatz station of the Stadtbahn, the Church of St. Leopold, and the Austrian Postal Savings Bank, all in Vienna.

This 12-page document dates to the later part of Wagner's career, after he'd left the Vienna Secession. It contains Wagner's unrealized proposal for the redevelopment of the Karlsplatz and the establishment of a modern municipal museum dedicated to Kaiser Franz Josef, now the site of the Vienna Museum. This proposal contains text on the site itself, its larger context within the city of Vienna, and details of Wagner's proposed design and construction. There are charts with technical material including construction costs, and nine illustrations showing a plan of the surrounding area, numerous ground plans of the building, elevations, and a rendering of the building in situ, all elegantly drawn by Wagner.

The final competition for the building was won by Wagner's student, Josef Hoffmann, and the project ended up being halted by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Scarce; as of June 2022, OCLC locates only two holdings of this proposal in North American libraries.