DOI article:
Dywan, Tomasz: Od „szkoły berlińskiej” do secesji: przyczynek do architektury miejskich zakładów przemysłowych Lwowa w latach 1858–1914
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51255#0244
were placed, to which square plaques were attached. Above the entrance gates,
a wrought iron balcony was madę. It was secured with an iron hood, added per-
pendicular to the facade, in the form of a segmented roof. The eaves’ surface was
covered with forged applications with a decoration of plant motifs, with evenly
spaced round buttons. The preserved design provided for the creation of electric
arc lamps, which were meant to be placed inside two round lampshades, hung
on the structure supporting the eaves (see: Drawing 16).
The side elevations have been divided with pilaster strips, evenly spaced on
the pedestal of the brick foundation. Three bands were added. Two of them were
covered with wavy profiled plasterwork, while those at the top of the lesenes were
structures reminiscent of wire clamps. Pairs of rectangular Windows, enclosed
with a common iron lintel, were madę in the smooth fields between the pilaster
strips. Above the lintel, a kind of simple cornice was placed, covered with vertical
profiling. In the fields marked by pilaster strips in the side elevations of the pro-
jection, one wide rectangular window was added on floors. In the first floor, fiat
shaped rustication was used, which was enclosed over the Windows with blocks
cut to a segmental arch (see: Drawing 16).
During the implementation of the most important municipal government
investment project in the discussed period - similarly as in the case of the con-
struction of the Lviv railway station (1901-1904) - according to the then popular
views of the architecture professor at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Otto
Wagner (1841-1918), attempts were madę to synthesize the structure of the power
plant and the tram depot at Gabrielivka with their architecture.144 It was to Wag-
ner’s didactic activity and work that we should attribute the aesthetic turn that
took place in the architecture of Vienna at the end of the last decade of the nine-
teenth century. On the pages of his Moderne Architektur (1895 and later editions),
the Viennese architect claimed, among other things, that “impractical can never
be beautifuL” Hence, he postulated the introduction of a “utilitarian style” whose
forms were to be derived from the structure and function of the building.145
Wagner believed that architecture could not be separated from the structure
and the technology, especially in the conditions of advanced industrialization
at the time. Hence, in the buildings of the Vienna City Railway (1894-1900), he
emphasised the prefabricated iron supporting structure, decorated with forged
floral and abstract ornaments.146 The decoration, “organically” combined with
144 J. Biriulow, Secesja, pp. 54,75-79; idem, Mucmet^moo, pp. 49-50.
145 U. Prokop, O różnorodności i jednoczesności. Spojrzenie na architekturę Wiednia około roku
1900, translated by J. Czudec, in: Otto Wagner. Wiedeń - architektura około 1900, ed. J. Purchla,
Kraków 2000, pp. 13-14; P. Haiko, Otto Wagner - wielotomowe dzieło i wizytówka, translated
by. J. Czudec, in: Otto Wagner. Wiedeń, p. 43.
146 Viennese Municipal Railway had four lines with the total length of nearly 38 km. In order to
develop the designs for particular structures within a short period of time, Wagner - who was
Municipal Architect at the time - organised a construction office, in which he employed 70 Staff.
By group effort, designs were developed for 42 overpasses, 78 bridges, 15 tunnels and 34 railway
stops. See: O.A. Graf, Otto Wagner. Das Werk der Architekten, vol. 1:1860-1902, Wien-Kóln-
-Graz 1985, p. 134; G. Kolb, Otto Wagner und die Wiener Stadtbahn, vol. 1: Textband, Miin-
chen 1989 (= Beitrage zur Kunstwissenschaft, 29/1), pp. 230-239; A. Nierhaus, Architektur der
Beschłeunigung, in: Otto Wagner. Die Wiener Stadtbahn, edited by A. Fogarassy, Berlin 2017,
pp. 18-20; A. Nierhaus, A. Senarclens de Grancy, E.-M. Orosz, L. Schubert, Katałog der Bauten
und Projekte, in: Otto Wagner. 418. SonderausteUung des Wiens Museums 15. Marz bis 7. Oktober
2018, edited by A. Nierhaus, E.-M. Orosz, Wien 2018, pp. 292-293.
From “Berlin school” to Art Nouveau: contribution to the study of architecture...
243
a wrought iron balcony was madę. It was secured with an iron hood, added per-
pendicular to the facade, in the form of a segmented roof. The eaves’ surface was
covered with forged applications with a decoration of plant motifs, with evenly
spaced round buttons. The preserved design provided for the creation of electric
arc lamps, which were meant to be placed inside two round lampshades, hung
on the structure supporting the eaves (see: Drawing 16).
The side elevations have been divided with pilaster strips, evenly spaced on
the pedestal of the brick foundation. Three bands were added. Two of them were
covered with wavy profiled plasterwork, while those at the top of the lesenes were
structures reminiscent of wire clamps. Pairs of rectangular Windows, enclosed
with a common iron lintel, were madę in the smooth fields between the pilaster
strips. Above the lintel, a kind of simple cornice was placed, covered with vertical
profiling. In the fields marked by pilaster strips in the side elevations of the pro-
jection, one wide rectangular window was added on floors. In the first floor, fiat
shaped rustication was used, which was enclosed over the Windows with blocks
cut to a segmental arch (see: Drawing 16).
During the implementation of the most important municipal government
investment project in the discussed period - similarly as in the case of the con-
struction of the Lviv railway station (1901-1904) - according to the then popular
views of the architecture professor at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Otto
Wagner (1841-1918), attempts were madę to synthesize the structure of the power
plant and the tram depot at Gabrielivka with their architecture.144 It was to Wag-
ner’s didactic activity and work that we should attribute the aesthetic turn that
took place in the architecture of Vienna at the end of the last decade of the nine-
teenth century. On the pages of his Moderne Architektur (1895 and later editions),
the Viennese architect claimed, among other things, that “impractical can never
be beautifuL” Hence, he postulated the introduction of a “utilitarian style” whose
forms were to be derived from the structure and function of the building.145
Wagner believed that architecture could not be separated from the structure
and the technology, especially in the conditions of advanced industrialization
at the time. Hence, in the buildings of the Vienna City Railway (1894-1900), he
emphasised the prefabricated iron supporting structure, decorated with forged
floral and abstract ornaments.146 The decoration, “organically” combined with
144 J. Biriulow, Secesja, pp. 54,75-79; idem, Mucmet^moo, pp. 49-50.
145 U. Prokop, O różnorodności i jednoczesności. Spojrzenie na architekturę Wiednia około roku
1900, translated by J. Czudec, in: Otto Wagner. Wiedeń - architektura około 1900, ed. J. Purchla,
Kraków 2000, pp. 13-14; P. Haiko, Otto Wagner - wielotomowe dzieło i wizytówka, translated
by. J. Czudec, in: Otto Wagner. Wiedeń, p. 43.
146 Viennese Municipal Railway had four lines with the total length of nearly 38 km. In order to
develop the designs for particular structures within a short period of time, Wagner - who was
Municipal Architect at the time - organised a construction office, in which he employed 70 Staff.
By group effort, designs were developed for 42 overpasses, 78 bridges, 15 tunnels and 34 railway
stops. See: O.A. Graf, Otto Wagner. Das Werk der Architekten, vol. 1:1860-1902, Wien-Kóln-
-Graz 1985, p. 134; G. Kolb, Otto Wagner und die Wiener Stadtbahn, vol. 1: Textband, Miin-
chen 1989 (= Beitrage zur Kunstwissenschaft, 29/1), pp. 230-239; A. Nierhaus, Architektur der
Beschłeunigung, in: Otto Wagner. Die Wiener Stadtbahn, edited by A. Fogarassy, Berlin 2017,
pp. 18-20; A. Nierhaus, A. Senarclens de Grancy, E.-M. Orosz, L. Schubert, Katałog der Bauten
und Projekte, in: Otto Wagner. 418. SonderausteUung des Wiens Museums 15. Marz bis 7. Oktober
2018, edited by A. Nierhaus, E.-M. Orosz, Wien 2018, pp. 292-293.
From “Berlin school” to Art Nouveau: contribution to the study of architecture...
243