First year trip to Vienna.

From the 27th February to the 2nd March the Level 4 Interior Architecture students visited Vienna for their study trip.  We spent an exciting 4 days walking round the city, attending exhibitions and design walking tours, and visiting a range of amazing buildings from Classical to Art Deco to Modernist to contemporary.  On the first morning we joined a walking tour with a difference, ‘Vienna Ugly’. Wandering through the beautiful streets of Vienna, the students were encouraged to think about and discuss the mistakes made by architects, city planners and developers, taking into consideration the role of the media, fashion, gentrification etc.  That evening we went to the MAK, the museum of applied arts, design, architecture and contemporary art, where we visited, amongst others, an exhibition of handicraft and traditional skills in the digital age, and the MAK Design Lab, an exhibition describing the design, function and use of objects, and how these relate to historical arts and crafts.

The next morning we were shown around the new urban development area of Nordbanhof, by a member of the Austrian Museum of Architecture. The students were encouraged to think about the way the Viennese live; how housing concepts, the political tools used to implement them, and the changes in society have developed over time. In the afternoon the students visited a number of brilliant museums, including the Leopold Museum, home to the largest collection of Austrian art featuring artists such as Oaskar Klimt and Egon Schiele, the Albertina Museum, housing one of the largest print rooms in the world, and MUMOK, the museum of modern and contemporary art.

On our final day we were privileged to be given a talk by architect and designer Nora Frölich of Atelier Frölich, at a co-working space in Vienna, Loffice. Nora spoke of her architectural education and experience that led her to setting up her practice, and her studio’s interests, projects and ethos. This provided an inspirational end to our study trip.