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V ienna remains Vienna”, as the saying goes, because Vienna has never felt the need
to reinvent itself. It rests within itself, ponderous at worst, timeless at best. Within
the framework of historically anchored and well-functioning urban institutions - from pu-
blic transport to well-tended city gardens to subsidised housing - the city nonetheless con-
tinues to evolve. Perhaps this is what makes it one of the most liveable cities in the world.

Saturday: Viennese Modernism and contemporary Vienna

r 9:00 While sleeping, we got to know a new hotel concept: for the Grätzlhotel Karme-
litermarkt (1), BWM Architekten redesigned formerly vacant business premises into sym- Foto: BWM Architekten/Severin Wurnig
pathetic guest rooms. On the way to the city centre, the Austrian Postal Savings Bank
(2) is a prime example of the Vienna Secession. Plans are underway for parts of Vienna’s Foto: Gerhard Fally
universities to be accommodated in the bank building designed by Otto Wagner in 1906.
r 11:00 A visit to the MAK - Museum für Angewandte Kunst (4) is highly recommended. Der Toboggan (22) – schrecklich cool seit 1913. Figlmüller (24) von • by BWM Architekten, 2020
The building style (Heinrich von Ferstel) is a representative example of the Ringstrasse
era, when Vienna was extended by a historicist boulevard.
r 13:00 A quick stop at the iconic pavilion architecture of the Steirereck Restaurant (5) (1) Grätzlhotel Karmelitermarkt Große Sperlgasse 6, 1020 Wien, www.graetzlhotel.com
with its iridescent façade (PPAG). A detour brings us to the Future Art Lab (6), a new buil- (2) Österreichische Postsparkasse Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1010 Wien, www.ottowagner.com
ding for the Music University by Pichler Traupmann Architekten. Not far is the disputed
(3) Universität für Angewandte Kunst Oskar-Kokoschka-Platz 2, 1010 Wien, www.dieangewandte.at
Heumarkt development that threatens the inner city’s UNESCO World Heritage status!
r 14:00 We take the Ringbahn to the twin buildings designed by Gottfried Semper in (4) Museum für Angewandte Kunst Stubenring 5, 1010 Wien, www.mak.at, www.salonplafond.wien
1891 as a “citizens’ forum” and disappear into the counterpart of the 21st century: the (5) Steirereck im Stadtpark Am Heumarkt 2A, 1030 Wien, www.steirereck.at
Museum Quarter (Ortner & Ortner Baukunst, Manfred Wehdorn) also houses the Archi-
(6) Future Art Lab Anton-von-Webern-Platz 1, 1030 Wien, www.mdw.ac.at
tekturzentrum Wien (7). The permanent exhibition “a_schau” summarises Austrian
building history from 1850 to the present. We now take a break at AzW Café Corbaci: the (7) Architekturzentrum Wien Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Wien, www.azw.at
interior was designed by the recent Pritzker Prize winners Anne Lacaton and Jean-Phil- (8) Museumsquartier/Libelle Museumsplatz 1, 1070 Wien, www.mqw.at
ippe Vassal. Finally, we take a look at the latest MQ extension, the pavilion Libelle (8).
(9) Werkbundsiedlung Woinovichgasse 8, 1130 Wien, www.werkbundsiedlung-wien.at
r 16:00 We can spend the afternoon with an excursion to the Werkbundsiedlung (9),
completed in 1932 under the direction of Josef Frank (renovated by P.GOOD). Alternati- (10) Wotrubakirche Ottillingerplatz 1, 1230 Wien, www.georgenberg.at
vely, the brutalist Wotruba Church (10) is also worth a detour: built in 1976 by Fritz Ger- (11) Weingut & Heuriger Zahel Maurer Hauptplatz 9, 1230 Wien, www.zahel.at
hard Mayr after the design of Viennese sculptor Fritz Wotruba, the building underwent
(12) Kleines Café Franziskanerplatz 3, 1010 Wien
a quite controversial update with the extension by f2p Architekten.
r 20:00 On the way to the Innere Stadt, we discuss Hollein’s shop façades in passing (13) Sperling im Augarten Augartenstraße 1, 1020 Wien, www.sperling.wien
and end up at the picturesque Franziskaner Platz: The legendary bar at the Franziskaner (14) Karl-Marx-Hof Heiligenstädter Straße 82-92, 1190 Wien, www.dasrotewien-waschsalon.at
Platz Das Kleine Café (12) is an early interior design by Viennese architect Hermann (15) Nussdorfer Wehr Josef-von-Schemerl-Brücke, 1200 Wien, www.verbund.at
Czech, who interprets Viennese Modernism.
(16) Seestadt Aspern 1220 Wien, www. aspern-seestadt.at, www.iba-wien.at
Sunday: Living and Dying in Vienna - Housing and Central Cemetery (17) Wohnprojekt Gleis 21 Bloch-Bauer Promenade 22, 1100 Wien, www.gleis21.wien, www.iba-wien.at
(18) Stadtelefant Bloch-Bauer Promenade 23, 1100 Wien, www.stadtelefant.at
r 9:00 The day begins at the park of the Augarten, where the flak towers from the
(19) Quartier Belvedere 1040 Wien
time of the Second World War remind us of a not at all glorious chapter of Austrian
history. We take the underground line 4 to the Heiligenstadt terminus and visit the fa- (20) Wiener Zentralfriedhof Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, 1110 Wien, www.friedhoefewien.at
mous Karl-Marx-Hof (14). Built in 1929 by Karl Ehn over a length of 1,050 metres, the (21) Bestattungsmuseum Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, 1110 Wien, www.bestattungsmuseum.at
world’s longest continuous block of flats is emblematic of social housing construction
(22) Toboggan im Prater Prater 83 A, 1020 Wien, www.praterwien.com
in Red Vienna.
r 11:00 To recognise today’s Vienna is to engage with the current urban development (23) Skopik & Lohn Leopoldsgasse 17, 1020 Wien, www.skopikundlohn.at
areas. Be sure to look out for events of the IBA_Vienna 2022 with the theme “New Social (24) Figlmüller Bäckerstraße Bäckerstraße 6, 1010 Wien, www.figlmueller.at
Housing”. Seestadt Aspern (16) is one oft the largest urban development area in Europe.
Since 2012, subsidised housing for about 20,000 people is being built here, including
the world’s second largest wooden high-rise, the HoHo Wien (Rüdiger Lainer + Partner,
2019). Alternatively, it is worth exploring the growing area around the main station: In
the Sonnwendviertel, Gleis 21 (17) (einszueins architektur) was recently built under par-
ticipatory planning with the residents. The Stadtelefant (18) (Franz & Sue, 2019) has
established as a creative cluster and meeting place for architects. In the close by Belve-
dere quarter, the luxurious Bel & Main Residences by Delugan Meissl and the residential
towers Parkapartments am Belvedere by Renzo Piano, have just been inaugurated.
r 15:00 From the main station we take the tram to Vienna Central Cemetery (20). Sights
worth seeing are the cemetery church by Max Hegele (1910), the gravestone Adolf Loos
designed for himself in 1929 and the funeral museum (21). Here you can lie in a coffin
and buy souvenirs such as lighters with the inscription: “Smoking secures jobs”.
r 20:00 We end the weekend with a classic Viennese dinner at the stylish restaurant
Skopik & Lohn (23) under Otto Zitko’s ornate ceiling or in the rather cool new interior
of the established Gasthaus Figlmüller (24) (BWM Architekten, 2020).