Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna:
Basic Data:
* **Architectural Style:** Baroque (with later neoclassical elements)
* **Architect:** Nikolaus Pacassi (significantly redesigned under Maria Theresa), originally designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach.
* **Construction Period:** Originally built from 1696, major expansion from 1740 to 1750 under Maria Theresa.
* **Location:** Vienna, Hietzing (13th District)
* **Use:** Imperial summer residence of the Habsburgs; now a museum and tourist attraction.
Architectural Features:
* **Overall Complex:** Palace complex with approximately 1,441 rooms; central main façade with a courtyard.
* **Façade:** Symmetrical, three-story main façade with columns and a pediment emphasizing the central projection.
* **Interior:** Rococo-style staterooms, including the Hall of Mirrors, the Maria Theresa Room, and the Vieux Laque Room.
* **Park:** Baroque palace park with geometric shapes, Gloriette, Neptune Fountain, maze, Palm House, and Tiergarten.
* **Gloriette:** Neoclassical building on a hill overlooking Vienna, built in 1775.
Special Architectural Aspects:
* **Concept:** Versailles was the model, albeit in a reduced form. A typical Austrian expression of High Baroque with later Rococo redesigns.
* **Innovations:** Integrated sight lines from the palace across the park to the Gloriette.
* **Materials:** Plenty of stucco, gilding, imitation marble, and frescoes.
* **Color:** The so-called "Schönbrunn Yellow" is characteristic, which many Austrian administrative buildings later adopted.