Something of a problem zone due to flooding, the Wien River needed regulating in the late 19th century. It would be more accurate to say that its last semblance of being a natural river was utterly and completely obliterated. At the same time, Otto Wagner had visions of turning the area between Karlsplatz and Schönbrunn into a magnificent boulevard. The vision blurred and the reality is a gushing, concrete-bottomed creek (a shocking eyesore designed by Wagner) and a couple of attractive Wagner houses on the Linke Wienzeile. Majolika-Haus at No 40 (1899) is the prettiest as it’s completely covered in glazed ceramic to create flowing floral motifs on the facade. The second of these Jugendstil masterpieces is a corner house at No 38, with reliefs from Kolo Moser and shapely bronze figures from Othmar Schimkowitz. Nearby is a third house, simpler than these, at Köstlergasse 3 and, finally, you can put Wagner’s functionality to the test by descending into his Kettenbrückengasse U-Bahn station.