Both city and country encourage citizen and visitor alike to visit the national Parliament building with free-of-charge building tours in German and English. I’m curious to see what’s inside the recently renovated building, originally designed by renowned Vienna architect Theophil Hansen in the neo-classical Greek style and inaugurated next to the Ringstraße in 1883.
There are displays not only about the construction of the building, but also about the road from monarchic imperial rule to an independent democratic republic, and the country’s entry into the European Union. Function and form play attractive visual clues in grand rooms and spaces, but ultimately, I’m drawn to the parliamentary library and its books: a strong reminder of what I want and need to read, in both languages.
Agora: reception area. Oberes Vestibül / Upper Vestibule: anteroom preparing visitors for the Colonnade Hall next.
Säulenhalle / Colonnade Hall: event- and interview-space measuring 40 metres by 24 metres, with marble columns.
Bundesversammlungssaal / Federal Assembly Hall: formerly used to assemble House of Deputies (representatives) in the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy.
Nationalratssaal / National Council Chamber: with a giant eagle on the wall, over the flags of Austria and the European Union.
Quiet cup of coffee on the terrace for Restaurant Kelsen im Parlament. Bibliothek / Library. Ideas, the immense variety of language and the diverse culture of writing, and all those books: together, as building blocks for good participatory governance.
Reading room, inside the library.
Reading room.
One of the library’s lounge areas, with many books available from the shelves to read.
A selection of available graphic novels.
I made all photos above with an iPhone15 on 8 Jul 2024. This post composed with Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.
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