Österreichische Postsparkasse: entrance façade

Wagner’s late projects from 1903 radically continued the transformation of the work of Schinkel, Van der N�ll and Semper, as seen in his two master buildings: the sanatorium church of Kirche am Steinhof (also called Leopoldskirche), the church of the Steinhof Asylum in Penzing outside Vienna, and the �sterreichische Postsparkasse (1903-12), also in Vienna. These buildings are considered his most revolutionary work; both utilized new materials - steel, glass, aluminium - and innovative modes of construction in a highly successful fusion of functional building and aesthetic vision.

The design for the �sterreichische Postsparkasse (Austrian Postal Savings Bank), one of his best-known works, won a competition (1903) and is based on a logical trapezoidal plan with a banking hall at its centre. The six-storey entrance fa�ade, surmounted by a simple Sezessionstil pergola flanked by winged figures, has large windows set in walls faced with white marble with aluminium fixings.