Master of architecture, Jamia Millia Islamia

1. Contemporary Architecture
A PRESENTATION ON BUILDINGS
1910-1920
By Zahraa Lone & Puneet Swami

2. Austrian Postal Savings Bank
ARCHITECT: OTTO WAGNER
YEAR: 1903-1912
LOCATION: VIENNA, AUSTRIA

3. Who Is He ?
BORN : JULY 13, 1841
Vienna, Austrian Empire.
DIED : APRIL 11, 1918(aged 76)
Vienna , Austria-Hungary
Nationality : Austria- Hungarian
Buildings :
• Floodgate, Nubdorf , Vienna
• Karlplatz Stadbahn Station.
• Majolica House
• Postal Office Savings Bank
Building
• Kirche am Steinhof
• Rumbach Synagogue
OTTO WAGNER -

4. Timeline
Otto Wagner
was born
Started designing his
first buildings in the
historicist style
Joined the Vienna
Secession/ Wrote Modern
Architecture: A
Guidebook
Shift towards modernism
Pre Modern building:
Postal savings bank
Wagner diesBuilt his first Art Nouveau
building, the Majolica
House in Vienna
Designed Karlplatz
Station
Studied in the
polytechnic institute of
structural design and in
the academy of visual
arts
1857-1862
1841 1864
1895
1896-97
1898
1913
1918

5. Austrian
Postal Savings Bank
Architect
Otto Wagner
Designed in
1903
Built in
1911-1913
Floors
7
Location
Vienna, Austria
Construction
Glass System and
Concrete
Style
Early modern

6. Project
• The tender for the construction of the Post Office Savings Bank Imperial-Royal was an open and
anonymous process carried out in February 1903.
• Three meetings were necessary for the jury to decide the winner, winning the draft submitted by
Wagner .

7. • During the following year to win the contest Wagner revised its
original plans, with particular attention to the central part of the
building facing the small square Georg Coch Platz.
• The high arch structure of metal and glass on top was replaced by
horizontal attics (a) , wall and topped with balustrade (b).
• These modifications enabled him to achieve greater harmony
between the horizontal line of the building and the horizontal
rhythm of the windows, showing a great sense of integrity for the
whole
(a)
(b)

8. The building received rave reviews in the architectural
environment of the time and was considered a pioneer
achievement of Austria, and indeed of European
architecture.
Floor plan
• Trapezoidal Plan.
• Symmetrical Construction
• A basilica with three naves, the central higher than the
two sides
• The central module becomes urban architectural
ornament and decoration.
• The whole building is built around the central hall
where the functional requirement is very clear and
perfect.
Concept
ENTRANCE

9. Phase 2
Phase 1
• 4 Courtyards

10. Spaces
• The main entrance to the building is via a
wide staircase covered by a single carport
metal and glass supported by slender
columns, which give access to the atrium
leading to the central area of ​​the bank.
Below this large patio lit basements, one of
which develops its work mail is placed.
• The building has 8 levels organized
symmetrically around 5 yards of light that
illuminate the interior.
• Although his style differs markedly from
other surrounding buildings, the architect
had the respectful approach to keep some
characteristics of the environment, such as
volume, color and rhythm of openings.

11. Exterior
Public Entrance: Glass awnings
supported by 6 aluminum covered
cast iron columns.
Brick wall cladded with
marble and granite
Statues of female angels
holding laurels in
both hands
Iron bolts with
aluminum caps
for ornamentation
purposes

12. Interior
Glass roof for transparency and
natural lighting
Cast iron pillars that
support the upper glass roof
Floor markings to give
direction of movement
Aluminum radiators

13. • The chairs of the bank differ in size and comfort according to
hierarchy., from arm chairs with cushions for bosses to mere
stools for lowly employee and customers.
• Aluminum plates to avoid wear and tear.
• Wooden seat

14. Woolworth Building
ARCHITECT: CASS GILBERT
YEAR : 1911 – 1913
LOCATION: 233 BROADWAY, BOROUGH OF
MANHATTAN

15. Who Is He ?
BORN : 24 November ,1859
Zanesville, Ohio, United States
DIED : 17 May 1934
Brockenhurst, United Kingdom
Nationality : American
Buildings :
• United States Supreme Court Building
• Minnesota State Capitol, Saint Paul,
Minnesota.
• St. Clement's Episcopal Church,
St. Paul, Minnesota, 1895.
• Woolworth Building, Manhattan, 1913.
CASS GILBERT -

16. Timeline
Cass Gilbert
Was born
Designed Minnesota
state capitol
Saint Louis Art
Museum
Shift towards Neoclassical
Style:
U.S Supreme Court
Building (started)
Gilbert diesBecame the skyscraper
pioneer :
Woolworth Building
Designed Broadway
Chapel
Studied in MIT
1878
1859 1882-1898
1899
1900
1913
1935
1934

17. Woolworth
Building
Architect
Cass Gilbert
Designed in
1910
Built in
1911-1913
Floors
60 entire Block
Location
Manhattan
Construction
Terracotta clad
Style
Neo Gothic Style

18. Project
• Cass Gilbert was commissioned by retail magnate Frank W. Woolworth, who controlled almost six hundred “five and
dime” stores in Broadway Manhattan.
• Woolworth financed the building independently without loans or assistance from developers, an atypical condition
for a building of that size.
• Located on Broadway in lower Manhattan bordering City Hall Park, the
Woolworth building occupies the entire block between Park Place
and Barclay Street.
• The idea of the building was to surpass the neighboring tall buildings, which however pushed his project to
increasingly greater heights.

19. Architect Cass Gilbert had established a national
reputation for designing regal civil buildings,
predominantly in the Beaux Arts style.
Gilbert believed that public buildings should serve
the public, and whatever expense required to make
them beautiful should be allocated.
While initially envisioned as the tallest structure in
its neighborhood at 45 stories at 625 feet tall, the
final design grew to 60 stories at 792 feet tall,
making it the tallest building in the world at the time
of its completion.
Concept

20. Floor plans
1. GRILLAGE PLAN
• Gilbert worked with structural engineer Gunvald Aus on the
innovative foundation and steel frame.
• Sixty-nine pneumatic caissons ranging from 6.5 and 18.75
inches in diameter were driven down to bedrock 100 to 120
feet below grade to support the towering mass.
• Closely spaced steel beams, called a grillage, were installed
atop each caisson to transfer building loads.
• Because construction on the caissons began before
Woolworth acquired additional property and enlarged the
design, additional caissons and enormous transfer girders
spanning between the original 38 concrete piers were
required.

21. First Basement Second Basement

22. • The lobby and basement levels fill the entire site
footprint, with setbacks along the building’s
height permitting light to reach street.
• The twenty-four stories stacked above the lobby
occupy a “U” shaped floor plan with a central
elevator core.
• This shift in the massing allows for a skylight
atop the lobby level grand stair hall and lets
ample daylight reach office spaces.
Ground Floor Level(Lobby Level)

23. • Hipped roofs top the longer bars of this volume
and only a slender tower rises above.
• Adding almost thirty additional stories to the
building, this svelte volume steps back and is finally
capped by a pyramidal roof.
Typical Upper Level Plan

24. Wind Tower Bracing
• Wind loads drove the steel frame design.
• Steel arches (portal braces) rigidly connect many
columns on middle floors.
• The base of the tower is reinforced by concentric
chevron bracing and the upper corners by “K” shaped
knee braces.

25. Exterior and Interior
• The final building was an engineering and
construction feat of its time: 792 feet tall, 60
floors, 206 million pounds, 15 acres of floor
area, 3000 exterior windows, 24,000 tons of
steel, 17 million bricks and 7,500 tons of terra
cotta.
• A number of innovations are hidden within the
ornate Neo-gothic envelope: a higher ratio of
office to elevator space than any
earlier skyscraper, a new elevator safety
system with air cushions at the bottom of each
shaft, and components erected at an
unprecedented rapid pace.

26. • With the design for both the interior and exterior, Gilbert
brought the grandeur and authority of a civic building to a
corporate tower.
• Ornate exterior cladding of cream terra cotta with blue and
yellow glazed accents evokes guildhall architecture of
France and England.
• Slim vertical piers accentuate the verticality of the building.
• A green patina-ed copper roof replete with gargoyles and
tracery tops the building.

27. • With the design for both the interior and exterior, Gilbert
brought the grandeur and authority of a civic building to a
corporate tower.
• Ornate exterior cladding of cream terra cotta with blue and
yellow glazed accents evokes guildhall architecture of
France and England.
• Slim vertical piers accentuate the verticality of the building.
• A green patina-ed copper roof replete with gargoyles and
tracery tops the building.

28. Spaces
• The symmetrical cruciform lobby
welcomes visitors with spectacular
decor.
• It is adorned with Early
Christian inspired barrel vault mosaics,
a stained glass skylight, marble walls,
bronze furnishings, and plaster
grotesques, including ones of
Woolworth counting coins and
Gilbert holding a model of the building.

29. Spaces
• The symmetrical cruciform lobby
welcomes visitors with spectacular
decor.
• It is adorned with Early
Christian inspired barrel vault mosaics,
a stained glass skylight, marble walls,
bronze furnishings, and plaster
grotesques, including ones of
Woolworth counting coins and
Gilbert holding a model of the building.

30. PLASTER
GROTESQUES

31. Building Relevance today
• The top 30 floors of the building
were sold to a private developer &
have been converted into 34 high
end condos
• The single bedroom apartment is
going at a cost of 2.4 million &
• The top end penthouse of 9000 sft
is price at 110 million dollar !!!
• The building was last seen in the
spider man return movie

32. THANKYOU