The United Nations’ Headquarters in Vienna, otherwise known as “Uno-City,” opened in 1979 and established a new urban center on the far side of the Danube. Across from Vienna’s historic center, the center has since become known as the “Donauplatte,” or “Danube Platform.”

Some 30 years later, the original UN complex is all but eclipsed by the myriad of new high rises, built in recent years by such trendsetting architects as Delugan Meissl and Coop Himmelb(l)au.

A standout feature of this area is the “Gironcoli-Kristall” exhibition space, which provides a welcome respite from the daily swirl of this hectic business center. The gallery is home to 13 major sculptural works by Bruno Gironcoli, one of Austria’s best-known contemporary artists, which were placed here on permanent loan by Viennese industrialist and private collector Hans Peter Haselsteiner in 2004.

Gironcoli’s monumental works made of gold- and silver-clad polyester are at once complex and compelling—some resembling bizarre, futuristic machinery; others, suggesting alien spacecraft. Let yourself be abducted to distant, disturbing dream worlds by this master of modernism.