Schwanzer's ground-breaking minimalistic design is widely regarded as a masterpiece of modern architecture, created more than ten years before Ludwig Mies van der Rohe presented his iconic version of flexible interior space and transparent walls in the form of the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin.
Between 1979 and 2001 the building acted as a depository for contemporary art works, which were then moved to the newly established Museum of Modern Art at Museumsquartier in late 2001.