| Project | Majolica House |
| Architect | Wagner, Otto |
| City | Vienna |
| Country | Austria |
| Address | Linke Wienzeile 40 |
| Building Type | Perimeter block, infill |
| Number of Dwellings | NA |
| Date Built | 1898-9 |
| Dwelling Types | NA |
| No. Floors | 6 |
| Section Type | NA |
| Exterior Finish Materials | ceramic tile, iron, wood windows |
| Construction Type | Masonry |
| Ancillary Services | shops at street level |
Wagner's reputation was firmly established in Vienna on the basis of his work on the Stadbahn and on the bridges and locks along the Danube Canal. Wagner shocked the Vienna community when, in 1899, he left the Künsterhaus which had recommended him for these commissions and joined the Secessionists. The two apartment houses on Linke Wienzeile, no. 38 and 40, built near the center of Vienna, date from this period. At the time they were felt to be "hideous beyond measure." These two buildings, side-by-side and of constant height and modulation, together form an unparalled decorated Secessionist wall of dwellings and shops. Number 40 on the left, the so-called Majolica, was named after the flowered tile which covers the magnificant facade.
The bottom two floors are treated as a base with ironwork that extends the influence of the shops up into the second floor with a narrow balcony. There is a gradation of detail and color from the bottom to the top with the green iron base, a gradual increase in complexity of the floral pattern from red to green toward to roof, finally capped with lion heads in relief and an elaborate overhanging eave. The junction between buildings on either side is managed by the use of a zone of balconies.
Heinz Beretsegger/Max Peinter, Otto Wagner, Rizzoli, New York, 1979.
Werner Goehner,
