The case of the Wittgenstein House

Buildings of classical modernism – resulting from an attitude of radical innovation and a denial of traditions- are (provided that they survived the disregard and construction boom of the sixties and seventies) today being classified as parts of our cultural heritage to be preserved. As these buildings are often experiments, aesthetically as well as structurally, experts in architecture are faced with new tasks.

The genesis and shape of the Wittgenstein House, a result of the cooperation between Paul Engelmann, scholar of Loos and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in 1926 – 28, are unique but its history and current problematic situation are paradigmatic for the handling of works of modern architecture. More than twenty years after the building’s structural adaptation as Cultural Institute of Bulgaria, restoration and renovation are at issue again. Compared with other international monuments, previous experiences are to be summarized and prospects for the future of the House are to be analysed. Up to the mid-seventies the House was in danger of demolition and only remained because of the attentiveness of Austrian architects and the commitment of the Republic of Bulgaria. As in the meanwhile there is international agreement on the significance of the House, Austria should assume responsibility for a part of the preservation of the monument, too.

On the initiative of the Cultural Institute of Bulgaria the House established itself as an exclusive location for events of art, culture and philosophy within the past few years. In this regard the symposium gives a further impetus to the architectural future of the House.

A cooperation of
Architekturzentrum Wien
The Cultural Institute of Bulgaria, Vienna
Austrian Society for Architecture – ÖGFA (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Architektur)

Information and registration:
Austrian Society for Architecture – ÖGFA
Coordination: Ms. Felicitas Konecny
Liechtensteinstrasse 46a, A-1090 Vienna
Phone / fax: +43 1 319 77 15
E-mail: oegfa@aaf.or.at
URL: http://www.aaf.or.at/oegfa/

The history of the house

The Wittgenstein House was built as a residence for Margarete Stonborough in 1926-28. She was born Wittgenstein and descended from one of the wealthiest families of industrialists in Vienna. Ludwig Wittgenstein was her youngest brother. She acquired the estate in the Kundmanngasse in autumn 1926 and for one part of it she received the approval for building by the Municipality of Vienna.

Her parental home played a significant role in Vienna’s art and music life at the turn of the century. Her father, Karl Wittgenstein, was one of the most important promoter of the Vienna Secession. Josef Hoffmann realized a series of projects for various family members until 1914, among them was also the well-known furnishing of Karl Wittgenstein’s hunting lodge on the Hochreith, made by the Wiener Werkstätte.

Paul Engelmann, scholar and colleague of Adolph Loos and at times secretary of Karl Kraus had been a friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein through Loos since 1926. Wittgenstein introduced him to the family and after the war he realized various interior furnishings in the parental house (Argentinierstrasse 16) and in the summer residence in Neuwaldegg. Margarete commissioned him with the design of her villa at the end of the 1925. She influenced the characteristics and the room programme according to her life style. (She had renovated the Villa Toscana in Gmunden with Rudolf Perco, a scholar of Wagner, in a similarly close cooperation in 1913).

Ludwig Wittgenstein, at that time an elementary school teacher in Ottenthal was highly interested in the planning and in summer 1926 he was consulted as architect. In November 1926 the municipal authorities approved the plans signed by Engelmann and Wittgenstein and from there on Wittgenstein undertook the building supervision and the whole detail planning. In a difficult period of his life the construction work for his sister gave him the opportunity to realize his intellectual and ethical concept in the creation of a concrete and complex task. Engelmann had planned the structural framework and had fixed the base. Wittgenstein however had improved and refined the design in all proportions, in all technical and formal details and thus created a unique historico-cultural document.

During this period of work he first met Moritz Schlick and the first meetings and conversations with Schlick, Friedrich Waismann, Rudolf Carnap, Herbert and Marie Feigl took place. Margarete moved into the house at the end of 1928. She furnished the rooms with French and Chinese furniture, with pieces from the Wiener Werkstätte and from her extensive art collection.

During the war, while she stayed in America and the furnishings were evacuated, the house was used as army hospital by the Red Cross and later on as a place for homecomers. Margarete lived in the house again until her death, in 1958. Dr.Thomas Stonborough, her son, sold the property to the building contractor Dipl.Ing.Franz Katlein in 1971. At that time the demolition of the house, planned in favour of a commercial building tower, was prevented at the last minute by an initiative of architects and authors initiated by Bernhard Leitner with the support of the international press and thus the house was classified as a historical monument. Nevertheless the marvellous old garden was cleared in 1971, the property was divided and from 1974 on an office tower was built in the very close vicinity of the house.

At the end of 1975 the Embassy of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria acquired the devastated house and gave it the new use of Cultural Institute. The building was renovated in 1976/77, some changes, particularly the enlargement for a great lecture room in the basement, being carried out but the substance remained preserved to a large extent.

Otto Kapfinger, Vienna 1998
kapfinger@nextroom.at

Programme

3.00 p.m. Opening:
Minister for Cultural Affairs Ms.Emma Moskova, Bulgaria
Welcoming remarks by the Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs Ms.Elisabeth Gehrer
Opening remarks by the organizers

4:00 p.m. Alterswert, Neuheitswert und die Zeitlichkeit der Architektur (Antique value, novelty value and temporality in architecture)
Lecture by Akos Moravánszky, Prof. in Architectural Theory, ETH Zürich

5:00 p.m. Die Rettung des Hauses Wittgenstein (The saving of the Wittgenstein House)
Lecture by Friedrich Kurrent, architect and Prof.em.for Interior Design, Technical University, Munich

5:30 p.m. Haus Wittgenstein. Perspektiven der Erneuerung (Wittgenstein House. Perspectives and renovation)
Panel discussion:

Emma Moskova, former head of the Bulgarian Office of Historic Monuments, Sofia
Otto Kapfinger, architectural theorist, Vienna
Friedrich Kurrent
Bernhard Leitner, prof. for Art Education, University of Applied Arts in Vienna
Wilhelm Georg Rizzi, president of the Federal Office of Historic Monuments, ViennaBR> Presentation: Dietmar Steiner, Director of the Architekturzentrum Wien

7:00 p.m.
Reception

8:00 p.m.
Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Biographische und Philosophische Bemerkungen (Ludwig Wittgenstein. Biographical and Philosophical remarks) Film by Ferry Radax, 1st part

Saturday, June 20, 1998

2.00 p.m.
Erhaltung und Erneuerung. Internationale Beispiele (Preservation and renovation. International examples)
Introduction: Walter Zschokke, Vienna

6:00 p.m.
Das Arbeitsamt Liesing von Ernst A. Plischke. Eine Rekonstruktion (The Liesing employment office by Ernst A. Plischke. A reconstruction)
Lecture by Hermann Czech, Architect, Vienna

Neue Möglichkeiten für eine Rekonstruktion des Hauses Tugendhat von Mies van der Rohe in Brünn (New possibilities for the reconstruction of the Tugendhat House by Mies van der Rohe in Brno)
Lecture by Jan Sapak, Architect, Brno

Die Renovierung der “Petite Maison” von Le Corbusier in Vevey (Renovation of Le Corbusier’s Petite Maison in Vevey)
Lecture by Adolph Stiller, architectural scientist, Vienna

Unbequeme Denkmäler, zwei Beispiele des Neuen Bauens in Zürich (Uncomfortable monuments, two examples of New Construction in Zürich)
Lecture by Ruggiero Tropeano, Architect, Zürich

7:00 p.m.
Resumé

8:00 p.m.
Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Biographische und Philosophische Bemerkungen (Ludwig Wittgenstein. Biographical and Philosophical remarks) Film by Ferry Radax, 2nd part