Wotruba kirche (Church of the Most Holy Trinity), Mauer district, Vienna (1974 – 1976)
The Brutalism movement gained steam around the globe in the 1960s and 70s. It made its mark in the Mauer district of Vienna, Austria, at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity. Designed by sculptor Frtiz Wotruba and architect Fritz Gerhard Mayer, the building looks like a pile of children’s toy blocks. Behind this simple and curious form is a masterwork of design and engineering. The walls are made of 152 modular cubes cast in concrete. The irregular pattern of the building, with most windows hidden in less-than-obvious places, gives the building a heavy, abstractly profound appearance. The blocky theme continues inside the building, with the squares and rectangles fighting each other for space as they do on the exterior. Like Boston City Hall, this Brutalist structure was not initially received well. Over time it has gained support as a grand work of art by a renown abstract sculptor.
