Architect Adolf Krischanitz creates his Suite at the Altstadt Hotel Vienna

A unique bastion of the city’s interior design scene, Hotel Altstadt Vienna offers an eclectic mix of boutique rooms by a prominent array of interior designers, each paying homage to this unique centre of art and culture.

Room 64 is the work of Pongau-born Adolf Krischanitz, a Viennese architect and furniture designer whose work thrives upon the seamless style and practicality of hotel living: “For me, a hotel room is very much an ideal space”. Who better, then, to add to Hotel Altstadt Vienna’s interior design roster than an architect and designer with a considered focus upon creating timelessly elegant hotel spaces that are as livable and enviable as his homes: “[A] hotel is a manifestation of urban living”.

Driven by the dual design forces of pragmatism and style, Adolf Krischanitz infuses the room with a natural sense of space, allowing it to unfurl between the interplay of the bed and the two feature walls, giving you room to be, and breathe, after a busy day pounding those Vienna streets. The natural “knotty oak” wooden wall against which you rest your head parallels the opposing delicate “field of flowers”, a sketch by a young artist that has been enlarged onto wallpaper and repeated over and over, giving almost an industrial impression of nature against the wooden real one. All of this is then bound together by a bright and captivating colourful rug, interposing play and drama into the mix.

A clear, open vibe accompanied by a maximisation of space continues just down the hall, as you push open would-be closets to discover the hidden WC, a shower and indeed, more closets. Krischanitz’s architectural sensibilities flow over into his furniture design too, as his eponymous free-floating bench, first designed for Wittmann, is both comfortable and takes up little space, as well as being ideal for cleaning underneath with ease (another detail suffused with admirable considerations for hotel living). Alongside his bench Krischanitz also mixes his lamps, sofas and armchairs with myriad finds, including two tables by London-born designer, Jasper Morrison.

An elegant space of inherent Austrian and Viennese influence, Krischanitz’s Hotel Altstadt’s room 64 is a meditation on what a hotel room could be, by an interior designer who sees their environment as interchangeable with any other kind of modern day living – to the extent that, given the chance, he could see himself living in one permanently. “There’s something about a hotel’s attitude to life that I find really appealing.” Frankly, we don’t blame him. 

Editor’s Journal Edit

Read up on other Hotel Altstadt Vienna design dens in our Travel Journal, such as room 67 created by Vienna Design Week Director Lilli Hollein, room 66 by Gregor Eichinger, the Lackner Suite by creative guru Andreas Lackner and Svenkst Tenn’s Josef Frank Suite. Tour the city in style with our Vienna Design Guide, peruse a coffee shop ode to all things beyond Sacher, check out our Foodie Guide to Vienna and hit the streets in style with our Vienna Art Guide.