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Wotruba Church

Wotruba Church

Fritz Wotruba & Fritz Gerhard Mayr

Photo: C.Stadler/Bwag · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Vienna, Austria
Client / Owner
Margarethe Ottillinger
Year
Completed 1976
Access
Public
Typology
Spiritual

The Wotruba Church stands in the Mauer district of Liesing in Vienna. The sculptor Fritz Wotruba designed it, and Fritz Gerhard Mayr was the planning architect. It was built from August 1974 to October 1976 and belongs to the Archdiocese of Vienna.

The idea came from Margarethe Ottillinger, who chose a site that had been Nazi barracks. She wanted a bold religious and artistic statement at a time of growing secularization. The church is made of 152 concrete blocks stacked with no visible symmetry, and it is Brutalist in style. Wotruba drew inspiration from Chartres Cathedral. Clear glass windows let in daylight.

Wotruba died before it was finished, and Mayr oversaw the remaining work. The altar is artificial marble, and the bronze crucifix is a copy of one Wotruba designed for Bruchsal.

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