Why This Historic European Capital Is Entering the Spotlight for Exceptional Design

They still love attending lavish balls and classical music performances, but the Viennese, however reverent of tradition, also thirst for the contemporary. Consider the city’s long legacy of revolutionary artists and architects, including Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Otto Wagner, and Koloman Moser. These four heroes, who all passed away in 1918, inspired Vienna Modernism, a celebration of the fin de siècle with exhibitions and events planned throughout 2018. It’s the perfect time, then, to visit the palace-strewn Austrian capital and in between apple strudel sessions at grand, 19th-century cafés, explore some of the good-looking newcomers that continue to infuse Vienna with bold energy.

STAY

Close to the MuseumsQuartier, in the indie boutique-laden Seventh District, is the Altstadt. With hundreds of artworks found throughout, this one-time apartment building dating from 1902 doubles as a gallery. Creativity permeates the 59 guest rooms, each one capturing a different Viennese mood through the distinct handiwork of talents like Austrian fashion designer Lena Hoschek nd Italian architect Matteo Thun. For instance, the Josef Frank suite by Svenskt Tenn—the Swedish design firm, the modernist architect worked for upon moving to Scandinavia—flaunts colorful patterns and a fabric-clad mahogany cabinet. In one of the hotel’s newest suites, Lilli Hollein, director of Vienna Design Week and husband Markus Eiblmayr, an architectural consultant, cleverly mix a yellow-and-beige striped bed with wallpaper depicting a swirl of gray clouds. Add to that a friendly staff making recommendations for local favorites, and the Altstadt truly feels like a posh residence.

When playful minimalism beckons instead of vivacious charm, there is the 107-room Ruby Lissi. Situated in an 18th-century building that was once a monastery and most recently offices, the sprawling lobby features industrial piping and vintage décor, from suitcases to globes, that nods to the constant travels of hotel namesake Empress Elisabeth. Fresh, white guest rooms with glassed-in rain showers, accentuated by oak floors and cherry paneling, are tech forward, complete with smart landline phones and Marshall amps. Bonus: the Austrian Postal Savings Bank, that modernist marvel designed by Wagner, is just a few short stroll away.

DO

Vienna’s forward-thinking spirit is underscored at Mumok in the MuseumsQuartier. A dark-gray cube clad in basalt stone, this modern art museum is home to quirky collections that draw from Pop Art, Photorealism, Fluxus, and Nouveau Réalisme. Exhibitions change often, highlighting a range of works from Cécile B. Evans to Bruno Gironcoli.

MAK, a shrine to the applied arts, attracts design lovers who come to look at furniture, textiles, and the archive of the groundbreaking artisan cooperative Wiener Werkstätte. Two big exhibitions this year, "Gustav Peichl: 15 Buildings for His 90th" (March 21-August 19) and "Post-Otto Wagner: From the Postal Savings Bank to Post-Modernism" (May 30-September 30), offer an additional layer of intrigue.

EAT & DRINK

At the Birdyard, diners share small, funky plates starring the likes of crispy veal medallions, beetroot yogurt, and avocado mousse. Once they polish off their bottle of Grüner Veltliner, they head downstairs to the bar, brightened by tropical murals, for cocktails like "the Notorious" with Scotch, Aquavit, and honey.

Evenings should then continue at Krypt, located in the shadow of the Sigmund Freud Museum. This stunning, early 19th-century building has been reimagined as a cocktail lounge. Descend the floating staircase to the marble bar in the cellar for a Negroni variation pairing mezcal with Cynar, sipped underneath gilded pipes.

Latin soul meets Austrian simplicity at La Vitrina, where beef-stuffed arepas and strawberry-pineapple smoothies are savored after perusing a petite array of Peruvian bowls and Mexican bracelets.

Candles tucked into raw-brick walls and black-and-white portraits that run the gamut from macabre to wholesome family album give Luster a cozy bent. Yet the centerpiece at this stylish neighborhood bar in a building from 1902 is the shiny, multi-tiered display of bottles. They find their way into such concoctions that bring together gin, vanilla, ginger, lemongrass, and honey-chile syrup.

Edgy murals at Spelunke on the Danube Canal are a tribute to the city’s street-art scene. Here, the fashionable convene on green leather banquettes for spicy pineapple guacamole and the Dark and Stormy-esque Corn N’ Oil with rum, Falernum, lime juice, and Angostura bitters while listening to the DJ spin against a wall of album covers spanning artists from Bonnie Tyler to Louis Armstrong.

Since opening in the former Austrian Hungarian Monarchy Bank headquarters in 2014, the Park Hyatt Vienna has emerged as one of the city’s swankiest accommodations. Just off the lobby, Bank Brasserie & Bar followed two years later in the one-time cashier hall. Now both visitors and locals come for original cocktails like the Broker (whiskey, birch syrup, flower pollen, pinewood essence) in a dreamy setting that blends leather and copper.

SHOP

First there was Stattgarten, a natural cosmetics shop, now there is Stattgarten-Eigenbedarf. Decked out with hand-built furniture, this concept store devoted to household items is the place to stock up on dishware and local wine.

Subterranean Vintagerie is a modernist dream, filled with retro chandeliers, curios, and an especially attractive selection of chairs reminiscent of sunken 1960s living rooms.

Ancient Venetian techniques are at the heart of Austrian glass artist Robert Comploj’s designs. From vases to candy-hued tumblers to light fixtures, each handmade piece that captivates at his atelier and showroom, Glashütte Comploj, has Scandinavian flair.

Beyond its men’s and women’s boutiques, the luxe fashion brand AMICIS has introduced AMICIS Deuxieme, a sleek shop melding marble and cement-based resin that showcases labels like See by Chloé, ALEXACHUNG, and REDValentino.

DON'T FORGET THE CLASSICS

Freud and Trotsky used to frequent Café Central, drinking coffee and partaking in philosophical banter. Planted on a banquette, beneath a staggering vaulted ceiling, it’s clear this Old World hangout at the base of Palais Ferstel remains just as atmospheric as the day it debuted in 1876.

A Viennese institution since 1876, historic, family-run Hotel Sacher is as well known for the regal guestrooms that have hosted countless celebrities—Pierre-Yves Rochon revamped some of the suites a few months back—as its eponymously named confection. The Sacher-Torte, a chocolate cake thinly coated with apricot jam, is the most sought-after dessert at the newly renovated Sacher Eck, a bi-level café and shop swathed in marble and plush red. Tackle a slice alongside views of the Vienna State Opera House.

Unlike the opulence discovered in other famous cafés of the city, Café Prückel, opposite MAK, sports an equally seductive, well-preserved 1950s décor courtesy of architect Oswald Haerdtl. Come in the mornings when old-timers flip through newspapers on sticks and natural light peeks through the perforated cone-shaped lamps, or at night for one of the piano concerts.

Although Steirereck only sprouted in Stadtpark in 2005, young by Viennese standards, this second incarnation of a restaurant founded in 1970 is a modern classic, synonymous with both fine dining and brilliant architecture. For example, a futuristic quartet of blocks, crafted from metal and glass, mirrors the lush landscape.

Vienna’s most alluring nightcaps await at the tiny Loos American Bar, minutes from St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Bartenders turn out exquisite classic cocktails that are amplified by a splendid, circa-1908 backdrop of brass, onyx, mahogany, and mirrored walls orchestrated by architect Adolf Loos.

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