Museum quarter - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2002 - 58 Euro Cent

After years of political hick-hacking, in 1991 it was finally decided to organize an architect's tender for the redesign of the 60,000 m2 site behind the trade fair palace, the former court stables, into a multifunctional cultural center for modern art. Architect Prof. Laurids Ortner, who had become known through various eye-catching projects in Berlin, Dresden, Bonn and Zurich, was awarded the contract. His project was implemented at a cost of 2 billion schillings, of which 1.6 billion came from the federal government, the rest from the city of Vienna. Left and right from the 1850 Winterreithalle the enormous cubes of the "Leopold Museum" and the "Museum Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna ". The first is covered with white shell limestone slabs, the second with black basalt slabs and, except for a few slits, completely windowless. The entrances are located at the intersection with the winter riding hall at a height of approx. 4 m, to which you can reach the 10 m-wide stairs. Strange suggests that these pompous rises do not lead to the expected large portals, but end in a few coffee houses. In addition to a number of other facilities, there are the Kunsthalle Wien, the Tanzquartier, the ZOOM Children's Museum, the Architekturzentrum Wien, the Birdlife Austria section of the Naturhistorisches Museum, restaurants, cafés and various shops.