The Important Little Things

What kind of architecture is typical for Vienna? St. Stephen's Cathedral, Karl-Marx Hof and DC Tower, or those elements scattered throughout the city that accompany us in our everyday lives? Who designs the small structures that we use regularly in public space: bus shelters and kiosks, rubbish bins, park benches and street lighting?

This excursion goes in pursuit of a number of ‘important little things’ familiar to us all. It begins with the street furniture of Luigi Blau, whose estate is conserved at the Az W and who continues to have a significant influence on the Viennese cityscape to this day — albeit to a lesser extent. As this is also what defines small-scale architecture: being taken for granted when needed, it is often removed when requirements change. Some historical elements around the Opera House and the Ringstrasse have been spared this fate, which we will visit before turning our attention to a private, but probably the most ‘Viennese’ of all small-scale architectural features: the sausage stand!

With: Claudia Lingenhöhl, architecture historian; Sonja Pisarik, Az W; Johanna and Gregor Schuberth, Schuberth und Schuberth

Moderated by Suzanne Kříženecký, Az W