IN SHORT: NONFICTION; Tales of the Vienna Streets

• Published in: The New York times book review p. 20
• Main Author: Doordan, Dennis P
• Format: Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: New York The New York Times Company 13.06.1993; New York Times Company
• Subjects: Architecture; Nonfiction
• ISSN: 0028-7806

An insightful photographic portrait, VIENNA 1850-1930: Architecture (Rizzoli, $65) provides a panorama of Viennese architecture during an era when the city was one of the most important intellectual and cultural centers in Europe. An essay by Peter Haiko, an architectural historian who teaches at the University of Vienna, provides a competent and accessible introduction to the historical events and theoretical issues for those unfamiliar with the architecture of the period. The heart of the book, however, is the fine color and black-and-white photographs of more than 30 structures documenting the metamorphosis of Vienna from a Baroque capital draped in the mantle of historicist styles to the stern, uncompromising forms of the modern city. In addition to civic and religious structures, the building types surveyed include private villas, apartment buildings and municipal structures like gasworks, water towers and bridges. Like the finest examples of human portraiture, Roberto Schezen's photographs reveal character as well as physiognomy. While his treatment of facades and major interior spaces conveys the public decorum and grand scale of urban architecture, his photographs of building details and eccentric spaces reveal intriguing facets of his subjects. Mr. Schezen possesses a wonderful eye for decorative details. The result is an unusually subtle and nuanced description of architecture. This photographic paean to Vienna vividly testifies to architecture's ability to transcend the requirements of mere shelter and evoke the spirit of an age and the character of a place.