Belvedere 21

Belvedere 21 is a museum for contemporary art, film, and music located in the Landstraße district of Vienna, Austria. It operates as a branch of the Belvedere, focusing on Austrian art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries within an international context. The institution is housed in a modernist steel and glass building originally designed by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer as the national pavilion for the 1958 World's Fair in Brussels. After being relocated to Vienna, the structure served as the Museum of the 20th Century, earning the nickname 20er Haus. Following a major renovation completed in 2011, it reopened as 21er Haus, and was renamed Belvedere 21 in 2018 to reflect its expanded role as a dynamic venue for art, performance, and discourse.

Karl Schwanzer designed the pavilion in 1954 for the Austrian government's design competition for Expo 58 in Brussels, winning first prize in 1955 from a jury that included Josef Hoffmann. Conceived as a lightweight structure to maximize spatial effect on a tight budget, the design won the Grand Prix d'Architecture at the fair. To save the temporary pavilion from demolition, Austrian government commissioner Manfred Mautner Markhof orchestrated its dismantling and transfer to Vienna. Adapted by Schwanzer for museum use, the building reopened in the Schweizer Garten on 20 September 1962 as the Museum of the 20th Century (M20), the first newly built museum of the Austrian Republic since 1918. Under founding director Werner Hofmann, the museum broke sharply with local tradition. From 1979 to 2001, the building functioned as an exhibition hall and depository for contemporary art, later managed by the Museum of Modern Art (MUMOK). When MUMOK moved to the MuseumsQuartier in 2001, the 20er Haus was transferred to the Austrian Gallery Belvedere in 2002. Lacking funds for renovation, the protected structure stood empty until 2008, when remodeling began under architect Adolf Krischanitz, a former student of Schwanzer. The renovated museum resumed operations on 15 November 2011.

As a contemporary art branch of the Belvedere, the museum concentrates on Austrian art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries viewed through an international lens. Its programmatic identity is defined by an unconventional and interdisciplinary approach that encompasses visual art, performance, music, film, lectures, and discussions. The museum also supports emerging practitioners through the BC21 Art Award, which recognizes young, innovative artists. In addition to its exhibition spaces, the institution houses the Federal Artothèque on its second basement level, a public lending library that allows civil servants and publicly owned corporations to borrow up to four artworks for one-year periods.

The basement exhibition space is dedicated to the Wotruba Foundation, presenting a permanent collection of works by sculptor Fritz Wotruba and his artistic circle. This holding comprises roughly 500 sculptures in stone, bronze, and plaster, alongside 2,500 drawings, 1,500 prints, and 14 oil paintings. Wotruba's historical connection to the site is significant, as he created the monumental figural relief installed in front of the original Brussels pavilion, for which he received the award for the Expo's best artwork. The museum has also hosted major temporary exhibitions featuring artists such as Ai Weiwei, Franz West, Erwin Wurm, Daniel Richter, and Rebecca Warren.

The structure is sited at Arsenalstrasse 1 in the Schweizer Garten, situated between the Arsenal and the former Südbahnhof in Vienna. Schwanzer's groundbreaking design features a 40 by 40 meter upper floor suspended six meters above the ground, resting entirely on four buttresses to create a floating effect. This minimalistic concept preceded Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin by over a decade. During the 2009 to 2011 renovation by Adolf Krischanitz, the steel structure's carrying capacity was adapted to building codes, asbestos was removed, and the glass roof was made shatterproof. Energy-saving double glazing replaced the original window profiles. Krischanitz added space by re-erecting the 75 meter long original porch from the 1960s, lowering the front area into an atrium crossed by an access bridge, and constructing a six-story office tower on the former parking lot. The resulting open museum structure provides 2,275 square meters of exhibition space across the ground and upper floors.

Belvedere 21 is located in Vienna's third district, Landstraße. The museum's facilities include a cinema, the Blickle Kino, which retains its original Expo 58 seating and paneling and has been operational since 2012. The museum shop, the Salon für Kunstbuch, functions as an artistic intervention conceived by Austrian artist Bernhard Cella. A restaurant with furniture designed by Adolf Krischanitz and Hermann Czech is located in the basement. The institution also provides an art studio for children. Under the Belvedere umbrella, the venue positions itself as an urban meeting point dedicated to contemporary art and interdisciplinary cultural events.