Bibliothek der Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien

The former Customs and Finance Directorate building in Vienna was built by Alois Schumacher in 1895-1901 as part of the second Ring development. Its wedge shape tapers towards the banks of the river Wien, where it ends in a handsome narrow facade with a portico of Corinthian half-columns. The library of the Vienna University of Applied Arts sits on top of a new build that fills the shell of the former finance directorate building. Immediately under the roof, the library is lit both by side and dormer windows. The Directorate vacated its building in 2003, after which it was used as a hostel for asylum seekers, the largest in the city. It is now used by the Vienna University of Applied Arts (“die Angewandte”), which had outgrown its historical location across the river. Completed in 2018, the transformation was led by Riepl Kaufmann Bammer Architekten and was the continuation of the transformation of the 1960s Wörle-Schwanzer-Trakt across the river, also taken over by the Angewandte.…