Gruen: A man of many parts

Vienna: While Gruen lived in Vienna between 1926 and 1938, he made a living by renovating old apartments and small street shops for his friends.

In the evenings, he frequently acted as a restaurant entertainer, wrote, presented and read poems and folk plays.

He also fought against the censorship of the restrictive era in Austria during the 1930s. Later on, he worked as a dramaturg for Viennese theatres.

After his return to Vienna from the US in the 1970s, he contributed to city planning. launching the city's first pedestrian zone in the First District - Karntner Strasse - which today is one of Europe's busiest and fanciest shopping zones. He died there in 1980.

For further reading: M. Jeffrey Hardwick, Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream, University of Pennsylvania Press 2003.