Design shopping in the Stilwerk

Vienna has a new architectural highlight: a spectacular, 18-storey building is rising next to the Danube Canal - designed by internationally awarded architect, Jean Nouvel. With the Stilwerk and its 30 shops, the building will also become a hub for design. On four levels and around 6,000 square meters, design lovers will find everything the heart desires here: furniture, living accessories, gifts items, fabrics, entertainment electronics, lighting and fashion. Famous brands - from Designers Guild to Thonet Vienna and Villeroy & Boch - are represented here. The Austrian fashion designer Nhut La Hong also has his store here.

The building is worth a look and also accommodates the luxury Sofitel hotel and two restaurants (the trendy establishment "Neni im Zweiten" and the gourmet restaurant "Le Loft"). Inside, the "Light ceilings" by Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist create extraordinary accents. Each of the exterior façades has a different color, depending on the direction it faces and the time of day.

In the inner courtyard is a special kind of art work: The Green Wall by Frenchman Patrick Blanc is a 600 square meter steel construction, on which around 20,000 different plants form a heavenly, vertical city garden. The green art works by Blanc can be wondered at in museums and shopping centers around the world.