Haus Wittgenstein

Haus Wittgenstein on Kundmanngasse in Vienna was built in 1928, having been designed by the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein for his sister.
Weyermann turned her interest to Wittgenstein’s house after completing Absence (Farnsworth House) (2000), prompted by her fascination with the philosopher: “I immediately find a philosopher who designs houses interesting. Here in particular, I am attracted by the question of how the design and sensual realisation of space differs from the work of a trained architect, whose approach to the concept of ‘space’ probably has a much more pragmatic character.” ¹
Having prepared by visiting the site in Vienna and conducting in-depth research on the building’s history, Weyermann developed three renderings showing the modernist building from both inside and outside. A pair of equally sized landscape-format works, Kundmanngasse II a and b, deal with the same motif but from opposite viewing directions: a large room on the piano nobile and the patio which is separated from it by floor-length windows. This is accompanied by Kundmanngasse I, which has an elongated portrait format. It depicts the stairwell, which is flooded with light thanks to the glass doors and a monopitch glass roof.

¹ Weyermann, Maja: “Konstruktionen Haus Wittgenstein, zu den Abbildungen”, in Goppelsröder, Fabian: WittgensteinKunst, Zurich 2006, pp. 41–42.