'Moderner Stil' und 'Heimisches Bauen'. Architekturreform in Graz um 1900 by Antje Senarclens de Grancy

Abstract

228 Reviews Loos and Otto Weininger and extending toHermann Broch, Arnold Schoenberg, Georg Trakl, Ludwig Wittgenstein and, in his lastwork, Egon Schiele. Musil and Freud as well as Schnitzler [. . .] could also be counted as criticalmodernists even if theywere often opposed to theKraus-Loos-Weininger axis' (pp. 208-9). Critical modernists 'aimed at exposing the double standard of Catholic morality, the corruption of politicians, thepress and big business and against the superficiality of "dieWiener Moderne" without abandoning respect forgenuine novelty' (p. 209). Janik's respect forOtto Weininger has not always earned him universal approval. Here, however, he makes a very strong case for Weininger's centrality toViennese culture in general, carefully and skilfullyplacing his misogyny and anti-Semitism into a context thatmakes them appear rather lessdistasteful than theyusually seem. Much of Weininger's thought, especially on women, isnot, however, as aberrant as Janik claims: 'no figure infin de si?cle Vienna is farther removed than he from the taste, moral values, and intellectual orientations of contemporary intellectuals' (p. 38). In fact,much that Weininger has to say on theFrauenfrage is foreshadowed in the earlywork of Peter Altenberg. His name occurs nowhere either in thisbook or inBeller's, yet he is a figure who is truly central to 'Vienna 1900' and who, in Kraus's own words, formed the 'bessererDreibund' with himself and Loos. With chapters devoted toKraus's artistic idolJacques Offenbach and theKraus devotee Arnold Schoenberg, Janik demonstrates the centrality ofmusic to a proper understanding ofwhat made 'Wittgenstein's Vienna' tick.Especially in the chapter on the little-known philosopher Ferdinand Ebner's confrontation with the views of Richard Wagner, Janik both opens new doors in our understanding of the culture and provides a subtle and effective critique of the way inwhich the uncritical reception of Schorske's views of Gustav Klimt and theVienna Secession have clouded the significance ofWagner in the development ofViennese modernism. Equally revealing, and welcome, isJanik's emphasis on the importance of Ibsen for our wider understanding ofViennese modernism. In general, but especially in some of themore specifically philosophical chapters relating to aspects of Wittgenstein's thought,Janik makes considerable demands on his readers. Unlike Schorske, with whom he shares a similar breadth of vision and singularity ofpurpose, Janik's gritty prose does not always make his work an ideal introduction for the neophyte. The final chapter ' "Ethik und ?sthetik sind eins": Wittgenstein and Trakl', however, provides a splendid example ofJanik's ability to cross boundaries and make fruitful connections. And this, surely, iswhat the study of'Vienna 1900' isall about. University of Edinburgh Andrew Barker 'ModemerStil' und 'HeimischesBauen'. Architekturreform in Graz um igoo. By Antje Senarclens de Grangy. Vienna, Cologne and Weimar: B?hlau. 2001. 459 ?>l9? illustrations. 78,30. isbn 3-205-99284-9. The 'Speziai Forschungsbereich Moderne', an interdisciplinary research initiative located at theKarl-Franzens Universit?t Graz, has already yielded a number of extremely interesting interdisciplinary studies of modernism and modernity in Central Europe. 'ModernerStil' und 'Heimisches Bauen'. Architekturreform inGraz um igoo, a highly nuanced and richly illustrated analysis of architectural discourse and discourse on architecture inGraz at the beginning of the twentieth century, isno AUSTRIAN STUDIES, II, 2OO3 229 exception. In this study, Senarclens de Grancy advances the central thesis that, ina 'second-order centre' such as Graz, it is possible to retain an overview of matters and so attain an accurate yet differentiated understanding of the tensions between modernism and traditionalism that shaped architectural reformaround 1900.Using the term 'architectural reform' to signify the plurality of approaches, whose only common factorwas theirdesire toprovide an alternative tohistoricism, she setsout toprovide an analysis that remains true to the complexity of the situation. The book is divided into five sections. The firstprovides a two-pronged introduction, outlining the complexities of architectural discourse inCentral Europe around 1900 and also detailing the author's perspective on 'architectural reform in Graz around 1900'. This is based on an historical analysis of definitions of the 'modern' and the 'anti-modern'. In carrying out this analysis, Senarclens de Grancy seeks to remain true to theplurality of Stilsprachenin existence at the turnof the last century, and also to understand the role that external discourses on subjects such as thenature ofmodernity...