Restored viennese modernist — a quick note to anchor this piece for readers.
Restored viennese modernist: Quick notes
There’s a quality to a well-restored historic work of architecture that is unmatched—the marriage of early twentieth century materials where edges are refined, structure is updated, and surfaces are refinished with real consideration. Villa Rezek, built between 1933 and 1934 in Vienna for physician couple Anna and Philipp Rezek by the largely unknown Jewish Viennese architect Hans Glas, is one such example. Set on Windmühlhöhe in Währing, Vienna’s 18th district, near works by Adolf Loos and Josef Frank, the house exemplifies Viennese Modernism in the interwar period: a reinforced concrete structure with generous openings, clean lines, and expansive terraces. It’s a building is both staunchly modern and unmistakably humane—an architecture of optimism amid a turbulent era.
Its recent restoration, undertaken between 2020 and 2024 by Maximilian Eisenköck Architektur, approaches the house as a layered document. The firm’s research-driven approach combines archival study, material analysis, and the precise attention to building history, chemical composition, and traces of original use. This approach allowed the villa to be returned to its 1930s condition without erasing its past. That past is substantial: the forced flight of the Jewish Rezek family in 1938; postwar occupation by American military generals; partial destruction; and the eventual protection by the Federal Monuments Office in 2010. Newly reopened as a temporary museum in spring of 2025, Villa Rezek offers a rare, intimiate encounter with the modernist domestic life—rooms restored with original furniture, photographs, and plans, where even absences feel present. It is also a quiet corrective: a reintroduction of Hans Glas, long overlooked in Austria, into the architectural lineage he helped shape.
Photography by Julius Hirtzberger for Maximilian Eisenköck Architektur.
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We reference Restored viennese modernist briefly to keep the thread coherent.
Above: Original bookshelf-lined walls of the more social spaces in Villa Rezek were carefully restored and decorated with 1930s Wilhelm Wagenfeld glassware, upholstery textiles, and design books referential to the time. 
Above: Noble wood varieties were used on the built in cabinets and bench. 
Above: Glass-front bookshelves and oak parquet floors. 
Above: A curtained storage entryway and rectangular black-and-white floor tiles. 
Above: Original built-in storage with custom key lock hardware. 
Above: The children’s bedroom was originally designed for the Rezek’s two daughters. It’s defined by a more colorful palette and was restored and decorated with Josef Frank B 246 Armchairs in red.
On a similar note: I adore the colors here; feels really homey. Saving it.
Heads up: This is so satisfying to read — thank you. So cozy 👍