The grandest and most stunning reading hall (Prunksaal actually translates as “Splendor Hall”) I have personally laid eyes upon, the Prunksaal in the Austrian National Library is well worth your visit if you’re of the “art and literature” persuasion. Compared to the other libraries we saw on this trip, the best thing about this hall is that you can actually walk inside and explore (although you cannot touch).

Designed and begun by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach in 1721, the Prunksaal was completed after his death in 1723 by his son, Joseph Emanuel. The ceiling frescoes are by Viennese artist Daniel Gran and depict images of war and peace, which is how the hall’s book collection is divided. The sculptures are by Lorenzo Mattielli. While the hall itself is a work of art, the collection of books is also outstanding: the oldest book

I think my favorite part of the hall was seeing the secret reading rooms behind the bookcases. Spectacular.

Below are just a few of the photos we took while there (click the images to see larger size or visit flickr to see more uploaded photos).

The Hall:

View from the center with books, sculpture, and frescoes:

Detail of the Daniel Gran frescoes in the dome:

Giant bookshelves:

Readers of this blog will know that we’re into beautiful books. Last week I visited Prague for the first time and managed to snap this (illicit) picture of the Baroque Library Hall at the Klementinum in Prague (clcik the photo to see it in grand size):

The Baroque Library Hall is the home of Czech National Library and is home to around 20,000 books going back as far as the 16th century. The Klementinum tour was one of the surprising delights of our time in Prague, at least for me. We had an energetic, although difficult to understand tour guide, who delighted in relaying the stories of the Mirror Chapel, this library, and especially the Astronomical Tower. If you ever visit Prague, I’d recommend this tour as a great way to see the city from up high.

The lunchtime presenter at Seed 3 was Edward Lifson who dropped in to tell us a bit about the building we were in. I’ll admit, I loved the Seed Conference, but Crown Hall was easily one of the largest stars of the day for me. I became an enthusiastic Mies van der Rohe fan while listening to Lifson in this most exquisite setting.

Lifson is most well known for his work on NPR and has reported extensively on architecture, city planning, public art and the like. He also happens to be a huge fan of Mies van der Rohe and lives in van der Rohe’s Lakeshore Drive apartments in Chicago.

Lakeshore Dr. Apartments, Chicago, IL

Crown Hall

Crown Hall is considered one of Mies van der Rohe’s masterworks and he himself was quite pleased with it. When asked about his architecture, the understated Mies stated:

“Many of them turned out as expected but perhaps the best example of what we’re trying to do is Crown Hall.” – Mies van der Rohe

Crown Hall exudes a sense of calm and zen-like tranquility. As light changes outside it can be felt instantaneously throughout the interior. Indeed, as Lifson stood on stage and spoke, he would occasionally stop and marvel at the remarkable setting he was in. He took great care to point out that even his slightly elevated perspective from the podium was causing him to see the building in a new way, and that we were all lucky to be able to see the building so soon after its recent renovation.

Upon the approach to the building there is a sense of ascension into an elevated profession (architecture). The building, thanks to its signature entrance stairs, use of glass, and its hanging ceiling appears to float, a Mies trademark.

The frosted glass around the lower interior windows contributes to this sense of floating as only vague shadows and light from the exterior penetrate inside. When you want to look through clear glass, you’re looking up into the treetops, as if for enlightenment. I can only assume that working inside the building feels quite special. One of the anecdotes Lifson brought up was that our conference was seated right in the same spot that Mies’s architecture students would sit. It was apparently said that students would get up to walk across the hall to ask Mies a question and often figure out the answer for themselves on the way over to his desk.

Crown Hall is about being in space.

“Architecture starts when you put two bricks together.” – Mies van der Rohe

Oddly, I have less notes about Lifson’s presentation than any of the other speakers at the conference. I will say, however, that his enthusiasm and awe left a real indelible impression on me. It made me want to understand more about Mies van der Rohe and spurred me to explore his other buildings during my trip.

330 North Wabash (formerly the IBM Building)

Links:

• Who is Edward Lifson
• “The New Modernist,” Edward Lifson’s Blog

[Disclaimer: What you have read in this post is my recollection and my notes from the event. I make no claims to 100% transcription accuracy and if I botched something, I'm happy to fix it - just drop me a comment.]