5 Years at Otto Wagner’s Postsparkasse

In spring 2021, after seven years at the Franz Josefs Kai 3, AIL moved to the former Postsparkasse – a historic landmark designed by architect Otto Wagner – thus joining other departments of the University of Applied Arts Vienna into this newly emerging neighborhood comprising several research institutions from the field of art and science.

This move provided the opportunity to further expand and strengthen networks for interdisciplinary work and research but came also with a bunch of challenges and adventures for the team of AIL: from getting rid of carpeted floors, to finding the light switch, to nerve wrecking fire alarms, to discovering hidden safes, back to delicious taste tests at Café Exchange – it was an adventurous and joyous ride.

It is an honor to bring this space to new life, to share it with such a great audience (You!), to see Café Exchange grow into it and to foster the interdisciplinary research landscape of the University of Applied Arts Vienna and beyond, to continue to create a diverse program around current societal issues and to encourage the development of new ideas and concepts.

This week you are invited to join us and dive deep into the history of the building and get more insights. For Lange Nacht der Forschung the institutions located in the building (University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft (BIG), Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research of Consequences of War, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and Austrian Commission for UNESCO) are presenting a joint program.

Immerse yourself in the world of art and science in the wonderful atmosphere of the 'Kassenhalle’ in the Otto Wagner-Postsparkasse! The former Postsparkasse building at Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna has become a location for research, science and art in Vienna's city center.

24 Apr 2026, 17:00 – 22:00

120 Years of Otto Wagner’s Postsparkasse:
An Evening Among Bolts, Vaults, and Spiral Staircases

For the Long Night of Research, the Federal Real Estate Company, Johannes Kepler University Linz, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the Austrian National Commission for UNESCO, and the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) a joint program of lectures and guided tours celebrating the 120th anniversary of what is arguably the most significant building of Viennese Modernism.

Science, art, and history under one roof: Let experts guide you through Otto Wagner’s iconic building and discover, through short lectures, what this unique structure still has to tell us today.

Program:

Between 17:00 and 22:00, we invite you to guided tours and a round of lectures that span the building’s history from its original use to its current function – revealing surprising parallels along the way.

Lectures (in German):

18:00

Welcome: Wojciech Czaja

18:10

Otto Wagner’s Imperial and Royal Postal Savings Bank, “a small dictionary of practicality” (Ludwig Hevesi, 1907)

Richard Kurdiovsky, Austrian Academy of Sciences

18:25

The Postal Savings Bank as a Functional System

Maria Harman, MAK – Museum of Applied Arts

18:40

What Does the Cashier’s Hall Tell Us?
Understanding Materials – Identifying Damage – Shaping the Future

Katharina Fuchs, University of Applied Arts Vienna

20:20

Set in Stone: Resistance Fighters of 1945 on the Memorial Plaque in the PSK Building

Barbara Stelzl-Marx, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War

20:35

Wealth Concentration in the Real Estate Sector: The Case of René Benko

Stephan Pühringer, Johannes Kepler University