Michaelerplatz exemplifies the political power and language of architecture. Franz Josef's white-knuckled grasping onto a glorified past is shown in the Neo-Rococo Hofburg and the Hercules statues. Across the platz, facing Franz Josef's desperate clinging onto old times is plain Jane anti-Historicist Loos House, Vienna's first modern building. Way to go, Loos! The Emperor was angered by this celebration of the common man in the face of old ideas like absolutism and divine right, excuses to uphold tyranny. He hated this building so much that he avoided Michaelerplatz As Loos worked, new ideas were circulating in Vienna, and change was imminent. Sady, the Loos House is now again a symbol of imperialism, housing another version of divine monarchy and blue bloodedness: the bank. read more