Vienna State Opera

This opera house in Austria was the first main building on Vienna Ring Road. Its construction began in 1861 all through to 1869 when it was completed. Sicard August and Eduard Null were the architects who drew plans for the opera house. The building was constructed in the Renaissance style (19th Century German style) by Josef, a Czech contractor.

The government then commissioned some reports into the accessibility of some building supplies, which resulted in the use of certain stones that had not been seen in Vienna before for instance the Wollersdorfer which was used for plinths and the Kaisersteinbruch, which was appropriate since its color appeared better for luxuriously decorated parts (Erik 2001). There was a decision made for the use of dimension stone in the exterior parts, with the building’s inner parts adorned with marble. The staircases were built using refined Kaisersstein.

During the final stages of World War II, it was bombed by American forces which resulted in some parts of the building being destroyed by flames including the stage and the auditorium. There was confusion on whether to destroy the building and rebuild it again or to restore it to its original state. After lengthy discussions, the latter was considered. So as to achieve a favorable acoustic, there was preference for the use of wood (Michael 2017). As a result, the number of seats was also decreased and the galleries were also restructured.

While the auditorium’s original decoration style had been retained, the luxury and the excessive magnificence were replaced by more practical interiors. The sitting capacity was also greatly reduced from 2,881 to about 2,282, which was essential because of the stringent construction, safety and fire regulations at the time.

Works Cited

Erik R et al. A World Elsewhere. Yale University Press, 2001.

Michael C. Vienna State Opera. New York Times, 2017.