Vienna Study Tour April 2007

[george.a.buchanan]

Hi All

The practice I work for are heading to Vienna in April for a 'Study Weekend'.

Can anyone provide some background info on the city and any architectural highlights worth visiting, please.

Also is it worthwhile hiring a car? Or is the city easy to navigate on public transport? Also, any restaurants/bars worth a try?

Thanks in advance!

George

[tdmc]

george, maybe not helful - visited a few years back - public transport was easy and logical. visit the palace (schomberg?) similar to Versailles... nice (but tame) city centre - cathedral and some other architecture I should know but was not impressed with (too much clashing glass for my liking)
and a few roman ruins, and plaques - who live where (hmm boring)

impression very conservative city.....

Town Hall at christmas has an "advent calander" with the arches (acting as the opens - arches if that makes sense) opening daily - and the park below festooned with lights and fairy stories - I have no idea what it's like in April (my visit was Novemeber)

Aonther idea - throw the weekend open internationally - "who in the world can attend" - I'd kind of prefer that the my "continuing education" reqirements!!!!
ahhhh tax deductions are a wonderful thing when on pays tax! add that to frequent flier points......

[tdmc]

oh short answer - public transport worked ok for me - two weeks there - trains and taxis ok!

[mperna]

Originally Posted by george.a.buchanan

Hi All

The practice I work for are heading to Vienna in April for a 'Study Weekend'.

George

Wow- Nice firm, Enjoy your trip!

[kleinjakob]

Hy george.a.buchanan,

trying to give you a helping hand:

1) For backgroundinfo: visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna or http://www.wien.gv.at/english/ (website of the city administration - clumsy but usefull...)

2) There are several interesting places in vienna to visit beside the "tourist catchers" - St. Stephens Cathedral and Schönbrunn or the giants wheel.
the list is very long and, well as everything else, it depends on your taste. But some usefull tips:

-Museums: The MQ - "Museumsquartier" especialy mumok (museum moderner kunst - museum of modern art, the museum is very interresting itself!) or like tdmc said for the conservatives: the Albertina or the leopold museum.
For a revue of austrian architecture from about 1850 up to date: AzW (Architekturzentrum Wien). All of the museums (except the albertina) listed are located in the MQ.

-Buildings: Otto-Wagner Buildings like the Secession, or the stations of the subwayline U6 and U4. Modern Buildings: Vienna DC (there are the UN-headquarters, and some other very interessting buildings.
Or the Vienna Gasometers (see here) or the Headquarters of t-mobile in Austria.
(the best would be to visit AzW the are very friendly and can help you with your personal taste)

3)Travel: I would not suggest to rent a car, since you will likely be most of the time in the center of vienna where there are no parkinglots and the garages are very expensive. By the way the public transport is very reliable and especialy in the center more than enough. You can go by train direct from the airport in 15 min to the citycenter (CAT).

Restaurants: Steirer Eck, Plachutta, Ofenloch... and Bars are in the center always right infront of your nose...

If you need anymore info, since I don't know where to start, just ask.

Jakob

[sigue2000]

Hi George,

here's a kmz-file with a few of the places Jakob was talking about. Not all the restaurants and bars have been visited by me (yet). I found some of these on the net.

Jakob, is there still that fantastic Schnitzel restaurant on the brink of the Zentralfriedhof? I think it was called 'Concordia'.

[vOid]

Be sure not to miss some of the works by Delugan Meissl and BKK-3, perhaps the most promising architectural practices in Vienna (that I know of...).
For the location of their work in the city unfortunately I can't help you... maybe someone else can?

Delugan Meissl website
Delugan Meissl thread
BKK-3 website

Good luck!

[george.a.buchanan]

fantastic, much obliged guys!

will post the best photos from the group following our visit

thanks again

George

[vOid]

I Found a book called "architecture in Vienna" I had bought back in 2000, while visiting the city (unfortunatelyfor just two days), and I have a few notes to add to the previous (more contemporary) references, in this case from different historical times (mostly not contemporary, but definitely worth a visit IMO):
Karlskirche, 1713, Johan and Josef Fischer von Erlach - Located in karlsplatz, a fantastic baroque church with elliptical plan;
The Secession building, 1897, by Joseph Maria Olbrich - Friedrichstrasse 12;
Otto Wagner's Stadtbahn and suburban railway lines, 1896 - Wagner was comissioned to design 30 railway stations and stops. Accessible through U4, U6 and suburban trains. Be sure to check at least the former Karlsplatz station, now a cafe. Also the Kirche am Steinhof , 1905 - Baumgartner Hohe 1 - and Postsparkasse (postal savings bank), 1903 - Located in Georg - Coch Platz 2. The ground floor and the banking hall are open to the public and are well worth a visit. There are also the Wagner villas 1 and 2... Otto Wagner deserves a visit itinerary of his own but you should at least visit a few of his works.
The Looshaus by Adolf Loos, 1909 - Michaelplatz. Also By Adolf Loos, the Loos Bar, 1908 - located in Karntner Durcgang, Steiner house (not open to the public), 1910, St. Veit-Gasse 10, and Horner house (not open to the public), 1912 - Northartgasse 7.
Coop Himmelblau's Falkestrasse loft adaptation (not open to the public), 1987 - Falkestrasse 6.

[gorgon]

Originally Posted by vOid

The Secession building, 1897, by Joseph Maria Olbrich - Friedrichstrasse 12;
Otto Wagner's Postsparkasse (postal savings bank), 1903 - Located in Georg - Coch Platz 2. The ground floor and the banking hall are open to the public and are well worth a visit.

These are the two historical buildings not to miss. The "bombastic" facade of the postoffice is really great.