Wiener Staatsoper - Building Form and Plan

The Wiener Staatsoper building is the Vienna State Opera House.  It is located in the center part of Vienna along the Ringstrasse.  It was built in the 1860's in the Neo-Renaissance style.  

From the front of the building you are able to see how repetitive and symmetrical the structure of the Wiener Staatsoper is.  The facade that is still in place today is a part of the original structure and was not affected by the wartime bombings.  Along the facade there are five Neo-Renaissance style arches.  Because of the repetitive nature of the form of this building, you will notice these same arches all the way around the building.  It was decided that stone would be used for the exterior of the building because there was such a high demand for stone at the time. 

Below, the plan of the Wiener Staatsoper building is shown.  The front of the building is on the right end, and the back on the left.  As one can see, toward the back end of the building there are two transverse wings.  These wings actually once served as entrances for horse-drawn carriages in the early years of the building's use.  For the most part, the plan of the building is very closed off.  The exceptions to this are, of course, the stage which is probably the most open part of the building, and the surrounding practice and dressing rooms that are also located in the back half of the building.  

The front part of the building includes the auditorium, which is pictured in more detail below.  Various intermission rooms and other parts of the building that are open to the public are located in this front half of the building.  Another interesting part of the entrance to the Wiener Staatsoper building is that the lobby and a couple of the other rooms near the entrance of the building were not affected at all by the bombings, are are original in structure just like the facade of the building.  The auditorium and most of the rear end of the building, however, were not so lucky and had to be completely rebuilt after the war.

One last aspect of the form of this building that stands out to me are the different styles of roofs throughout the building.  Over the main part of the building - the stage and auditorium - there is a vaulted roof.  Each of the transverse wings have a hipped roof, and the parts of the building that connect the transverse wings have gable roofs.