Big! Bad? Modern ─ Four Megabuildings in Vienna

Based on a collaborative research effort and accompanying exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna,Big! Bad? Modern compiles contemporary assessments of four buildings from the controversial postwar modernist period between 1950 and 1980: the Vienna General Hospital, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation studio, the Vienna University of Economics, and the Wohnpark Alt-Erlaa residential estate. Architecture from this period remains controversial to this day, its quality and significance the subject of frequent debate. Contributions toBig! Bad? Modern assess the selected buildings’ current state and use, as well as their aesthetic and historic appeal and history of public acceptance. Alongside these assessments are proposals for how the existing structures might be changed, from small alterations to radical redesigns. With more than three-hundred illustrations, including many in color, the book also contains a preface by renowned architect Nasrine Seraji and essays by Hermann Czech, Francoise Fromont, Harry Gluck, Sabine Kraft, and Michael Zinganel.

Stefan Gruber is professor of architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and an architect and principal of the Vienna-based architectural firm Studiogruber.Antje Lehn teaches in the Departments of Architecture and Art Education at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.Lisa Schmidt-Colinet is a senior scientist at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and cofounder of the Vienna-based architectural firm Schmidt-Colinet.Schmoeger Architects.Angelika Schnell is professor of the history and theory of architecture and design at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.