4/5 Suvendu D. 5 years ago on Google
Planning
of
the
Ringstrasse
began
in
1857
and
included
the
project
to
bring
together
and
show
the
imperial
collections
in
a
grand
new
building
featuring
state-of-the-art
technical
and
display
facilities;
it
took,
however,
another
ten
years
until
the
competition
to
design
the
new
museums
was
actually
held.
The
architects
who
participated
in
1867
were
Hansen,
Löhr,
Ferstel
and
Hasenauer,
all
of
whom
worked
in
Vienna.
When
jury
and
patron
failed
for
months
to
agree
on
a
winner,
Gottfried
Semper,
the
internationally-renowned
architect
known
for
his
museum
designs,
was
called
in
as
an
advisor
in
1868.
The
Emperor
then
decided
to
commission
Semper
to
alter
and
complete
the
plans
initially
presented
by
Hasenauer.
But
he
also
enlarged
them
–
his
designs
were
informed
by
urban
planning
in
ancient
Rome
–
to
create
what
was
known
as
the
“imperial
forum”:
He
envisaged
an
additional
–
also
symmetrical
-
pair
of
buildings
aligned
with
the
two
museums,
each
of
which
featured
a
semi-circular
façade.
These
two
buildings
were
to
flank
the
Hofburg’s
Leopoltinische
Trakt
(the
wing
of
the
old
palace
erected
under
Emperor
Leopold)
for
which
Semper
planned
a
modern
façade
and
that
would
house
the
throne
room.
However,
only
the
two
museums
and
the
part
of
the
“Neue
Burg”
(new
palace)
facing
the
Burggarten
(palace
garden)
were
realised.
Work
on
the
museums
commenced
in
1871
and
twenty
years
later,
in
1891,
they
were
formally
opened
to
the
public.
Semper
had
moderated
Hasenauer’s
original
design
for
the
façades
and
they
now
feature
a
complex
art-historical
programme
of
sculptures
and
reliefs.
The
building’s
internal
structure
combines
two
architectural
traditions:
entrance
hall,
staircase
and
cupola
hall
form
a
dramatic
unit
that
celebrates
the
imperial
patron
and
his
predecessors.
An
additional
elegant
feature
is
the
circular
opening
in
the
ceiling
of
the
entrance
hall
that
offers
visitors
their
first
glimpse
of
the
cupola
hall.
Ascending
the
stairs,
visitors
pass
Antonio
Canova’s
“Theseus
Slaying
the
Centaur”
on
their
way
to
the
cupola
hall,
the
apex
of
imperial
display.
Along
this
central
axis
a
wealth
of
neo-baroque
decorations
create
one
of
the
most
solemn
and
splendid
interiors
of
late-nineteenth-century
Vienna,
probably
unrivalled
in
any
other
European
museum.
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