Haus Wittgenstein Project

In 1926, the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein took over the interior design of a Modernist townhouse in Vienna for his sister, Margarethe. Retaining the overall structure designed by the architect, Paul Engleman, a student of Adolf Loos, Wittgenstein focused on the layout, dimensions and interior fittings – windows, doors, door handles and radiators. Chronologically and conceptually, Haus Wittgenstein comes between Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1921/22) and the notes, lectures and posthumous publication of  Philosophical Investigations, a radical re-think of his earlier theories of language from the ‘picture theory of meaning’ to ‘language games’. Taking the building as a transitional object, for the two-person exhibition at the Danielle Arnaud Gallery, Jon Bird and Ergin Çavuşoğlu each explored spatial epistemologies through drawings, collage, installations, objects and video.

Daniel Arnaud Venice presents Haus Wittgenstein during the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025.