Page - 126 - in Demolished Modified Endangered - Modelling Austrian Architecture Of The 20th Century

126 PAVILLON FELTEN & GUILLEAUME BY OSWALD HAERDTL Year 1953 Status Demolished Material Foamboard Acrylic Glass Glue Scale 1:100 Model maker Hannes Stockklauser The showroom for the Austrian company Felten & Guilleaume by the Austrian architect Oswald Haerdtl, a student of Josef Hoffmann, was located close to the fairgrounds in the 2nd district of Vienna. The building was made of two rectangular volumes, a tall square one and a second lower one which was cut in half by the larger square. The topmost roof was carried by four columns, one in each corner. The roof of the lower volume was attached to the columns with console brackets. The three main sides of the buildings were made of glass. The back of the building was covered with metal sheets. Due to its unique appearance, architecture critics in the 1960s referred to it as one of the most representative modernistic buildings after the Second World War.1 Felten & Guilleaume was a producer of metal wire and accessories. The three main sides of the showroom, completely covered in glass, functioned as a large glass vitrine. On the inside of the glass building the floor was separated into two levels. The raised level was for the products and the lower level for the visitors. Two conference rooms and the bathrooms were placed in the back of the building, separated from the main room by a wall with photographic prints. The company lettering and the logo were placed on top of the main roof and the porch roof, and their design were an important part of the architectural and visual appearance of the pavilion. This can also be seen in Haerdtl’s other projects as well as his extensive portfolio of graphics and design works. In the late 80s, during the replanning and reconstructing of the Viennese fairgrounds, the building was demolished.2 1 Stiller, Adolph (2000): Oswald Haerdtl: Architekt und Designer. Salzburg: Pustet. 254. 2 Stiller, Adolph (2000): Oswald Haerdtl: Architekt und Designer. Salzburg: Pustet. 141-148.