The zbc3 offices in Vienna are an open assault on dull modernity. In fact the designers have kidnapped minimalism, tied it up with a velvet rope, dressed it in a brocade jacket, stuck a pompadour wig on it and spanked its bottom with a beautifully carved mahogany paddle.
In fact you could imagine Mozart himself knocking up a quick opera before dinner if it weren’t for the (admittedly modern) spindly desk and chair arrangement that sit incongruously amid the splendour of the 19th Century interior surrounding them. Named the Gentlemen’s Office by architects Pudelskern, the interior is protected (like being listed in the UK), and you can see why.
The work furniture is all on castors and the technology all wireless so it can be wheeled out of the way for client presentations and PR events, but we’d be scared to wheel anything across that intricate flooring, or bump a table corner into the fabulous carved fireplace. The last word in opulent offices.
Photography, Markus Bstieler
