Palais des Beaux Arts, Vienna

The Palais des Beaux Arts is an Art Nouveau building in Vienna’s third district, Landstraße. It stands on Löwengasse, between two addresses, and was raised between 1908 and 1909 by Anton and Josef Drexler. The brothers also shaped houses on Rudolf-von-Alt-Platz and helped shape the Weißgerberviertel quarter around it. Originally it housed Chic Parisien, a fashion centre, before later becoming an embassy site. Today it shelters the embassies of Lithuania and Moldova alongside an artist-run art institution. The building therefore links past fashion with present diplomacy and culture. Critics praise the structure for blending late Historicism with West European Art Nouveau motifs. Austrian architecture critic Friedrich Achleitner admired its rational ground plan and its almost Baroque abundance of decoration. He noted how this layout allowed the building to be easily adjusted over time. A corner tower acts like a hinge, flanked by female figures holding globes. Inside, the vestibule is lined with floral stucco and reliefs of women on the staircase walls. Visitors find a programme of changing arts projects since 2014, shown via Wi-Fi to smartphones and tablets around the building. The embassies occupy parts of the interior, while the art institution organises exhibitions and remembrance events. The exterior’s decorative style and the corner tower remain striking features. The vestibule’s floral stucco and staircase reliefs add to the Art Nouveau atmosphere. The building thus offers both diplomatic presence and contemporary art in one setting.