This new book is the product of a unique research, teaching, and exhibition project at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Faculty and students of the university’s Institute for Art and Architecture IKA dedicated a full year to investigate the highly controversial modernist architecture of the three decades between 1950 and 1980. Their goal was to assess the state and current use and to interpret the aesthetic, history, and public acceptance of four selected buildings from today’s perspective. Eventually, the students created designs and proposals for moderate to radical changes for these structures. The surprising results of this undertaking offer a very differentiated picture of Vienna’s General Hospital (AKH), the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation’s studio complex (ORF-Zentrum), the Vienna University of Economics (WU), and the Alterlaa housing estate.

Big! Bad? Modern: reflects this diversity: Arranged by keywords derived from the featured projects, it provides easy access to the rich and comprehensive collection of materials and manifold positions, and opens up new perspectives. Essays by renowned authors such as Hermann Czech, Françoise Fromont, Harry Glück, Sabine Kraft and Michael Zinganel and a preface by Nasrine Seraji round out the book.