Museum of Applied Arts — Attraction in Vienna

The MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art is one of the most important museums of its kind worldwide. Founded as the “Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry” in 1863, today’s museum—with its unique collection of applied arts and as a first-class address for contemporary art—can boast an incomparable identity. Originally established as an exemplary source collection, today’s MAK Collection continues to stand for an extraordinary union of applied art, design, contemporary art and architecture.

The spacious halls of the Permanent Collection in the magnificent Ringstraße building by Heinrichvon Ferstel were later redesigned by contemporary artists in order to present selected highlights from the MAK Collection. In a unique interplay of artistic heritage and contemporary interventions, the historical holdings have been staged anew in a way that invites close examination of the individual exhibits.

The Study Collection provides a comprehensive look into the many different areas of the collection while making visible applied art’s history and diversity, as well as the richness and origins of its formal variants and materials. This is the place for more detailed inspection and comparison of the morphological variants of objects which have been inspiring artists and designers for generations.

In temporary exhibitions, the MAK presents various artistic stances from the fields of applied arts, design, architecture, contemporary art, and new media, with the mutual relationships between them being a consistently emphasized theme. The institution’s multifaceted mission allows for varied approaches, opening up new perspectives from which to regard historical relationships and offering frequent glimpses at artistically and societally relevant developments that are just beginning to appear on the horizon.

Sofas by Franz West invite visitors to sit down, take a break and perhaps page through today’s papers; this can also be said of the seating elements by Hermann Czech in the MAK’s central, neo-Renaissance Columned Main Hall. Culinary delights can be found at ÖSTERREICHER IM MAK; with its futuristic interior design by architect Gregor Eichinger, the restaurant is another great opportunity for a break—try its outdoor dining area in the MAK Garden for a particularly relaxing experience. Immediately adjacent is the MAK Design Shop, whose range of offerings includes gifts both extraordinary and practical as well as publications, design objects and artists’ editions. On selected Tuesdays, young designers present their newest products here when the Shop serves as an After Work Meeting Point for design aficionados.

In the MAK Reading Room, likewise located in the Stubenring building, user-friendly opening hours and free admission even afford visitors weekend access to books from Austria’s largest art library, home to an archive of societal and cultural knowledge that is constantly being updated.

The large exhibition halls were built between 1906 and 1909 according to plans by architect Ludwig Baumann; with a total floor space of 2,700 m2, they are among Austria’s largest such facilities. The exhibition halls are connected with the Stubenring building by a glass wing designed by Sepp Müller in 1991, and they can also be accessed separately via their own entrance on Weiskirchnerstraße. Stepping through the latter, one is impressed by the generosity of the magnificent late-historicist entrance foyer, behind which lie the exhibition halls and the MAK Lecture Hall. Two levels play host to regularly changing temporary exhibitions covering a wide range of approaches to the diverse themes encompassed by the...

Museum That Hates Children - Avoid if You Have Kids

This was, without a doubt, the most horrible experience I have ever had at any museum. If you have children, do NOT come here—they are clearly not welcome. From the moment we entered, the curators in every room made us feel like we were a nuisance. They followed us around like Gestapo police, making the entire visit feel oppressive and unwelcoming.

The worst part was when a lady yelled at my 6-year-old child because he touched something. He was so scared that we had to leave that part of the exhibition altogether. It was heartbreaking to see him frightened in what should have been an enjoyable, educational environment.

Downstairs, in the "interactive" section where you're supposed to draw on an erasable wall with markers, we were scolded again. Apparently, my child was "drawing too much" and "spoiling it for others." It's an erasable wall! What is the point if kids can't engage with it freely?

In another interactive section, a staff member just stood there glaring at us while we played at the tables. The hostility from the staff made us feel completely unwelcome and uncomfortable.

This museum needs to seriously reevaluate how it trains its staff and rethink whether it wants to advertise itself as family-friendly. Right now, it’s anything but. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone with kids, and honestly, I regret the time and...

Came here as we saw they were publicising on social media and all articles as they said they will give free entry on national Austrian day. We enter and an old tall man awaits us and looking at us bad. He then ask us what we were looking for as he stopped us in the middle of the corridor before entering and gets annoyed as we spoke English. We tell him we are here for the museum, he then tell us we have to pay, I tell him it stated on Internet the admission is free and he says we need to pay or leave whilst he was very handsy, almost violent. We tell him ok. I go to the info desk and check the price and check my phone to see where I saw the free admission article, he then proceeds to come next to us - about 30 second later) telling us we need to pay that instant or leave and I said was just checking the prices, I got angry so I told my husband just to leave since the man was aggressive and we just left as he was smiling because he kicked us before being able to buy a ticket ( as he didn't want any foreigner to check the museum) Please bare in mind we were dressed smart/elegant but guessing this was just an act of racism from the staff. They are very racist here if you speak English and not their language. We will never come here ever, even though we live here and will tell everyone about our bad experience. Be aware of the...