Architecture Construction & Settlement

Fog Illusion & Space - Presentation work

15.07.11

So today I return home. The emotional goodbyes finally came to an end as I got on the train to the airport. I am on the airplane and my mind has been ticking… Vienna, the city itself and the people in it have been fantastic. The time I spent there was perfect in every way, a true life changing experience.

At the TU the tutors have time for individuals and communicate with their students with a mutual respect, interest and willingness to treat each student as an individual and work to their strengths. I feel in the UK architecture seems to be a tick list. The boxes must be ticked to do well, but if there is an additional piece of work for example a document towards a design project, the tutors will not read it but will check that it is there. How can they expect students to produce work that is not reviewed? Yet, in Austria word counts, file layouts, presentation techniques, are all decisions that have to be made by the student. The tutor looks for the positives in their students and encourages them to work towards their strengths, regardless of what media or format they finally present it in.
I felt with all of my subjects I learned a lot and even excelled in certain aspect – all without the pressure of what I have been used to.
In my opinion, students in the UK run around panicking and spend time on things that actually in context are not important – in Austria students are focused and relaxed and produce work in a controlled environment without the need for stress.

I am sorely going to miss my family in Vienna. The past week was full of farewells and I must admit that I really will miss them all. A few individuals (you know who you are) I felt that I have known for my lifetime, the Erasmus experience makes you realise that certain things in life are important but also how valuable life itself and the experiences you gain from such things are often far more productive, better and valuable than slaving away shut off from the world. The number of lessons I learnt, amount of confidence I gained, languages improved and people that I met was something I will never forget.

Thank you Erasmus.

30.06.11

The last day of the month meant the start of farewells to some of the most amazing individuals I have met in Vienna over the past few months. The experience of the Erasmus exchange has taught me a lot. It made me realise how engrossed I had started to become in the things that were not important in life and it made me realise that you can live in a different way to what you are used to.
When you find yourself in a strange country and you immerse yourself into a new culture it takes a period of time to settle down and it seems that the moment you begin to feel rooted in a community and place; times change and people must move on. The Erasmus exchange was a period of time I will never forget. The time that I shared with my family here shall never be forgotten but we must all move on in our individual directions and into the future. I hope to see my Erasmus family again but with people from as far as Australia, Canada and America I know this will be difficult; we shall see and only time will tell!
Thank you to everybody that made Vienna such a special and joyous experience, have a safe journey home!

27.06.11

This morning we had our ‘Fog Illusion and Space’ final review with Will Alsop.
The past week has been a whirlwind with final preparations. The seven of our group had divided up tasks from our central design strategy to complete our presentation.

In Austria, students have far more freedom in how and what they present at reviews. There is no ‘set criteria’ or ‘boxes to tick’ and this allows students to be more free and flexible with the work they present. Our group tried to balance the more regimented side that we are used to in the UK, with a more free Austrian approach.
We decided that we would present a development booklet of ideas, three A1 sheets, a film, a 3D computer generated game, development models (1:200) and a final model (1:100).
We felt confident in the amount of work produced and aside from a few minor clashes of opinion within the group we were all happy with the final body of work that we were to present.

The first group presented a film which was made up of a series of illusionary experiments within the courtyard. This was an interesting approach and the film had some fascinating moments, but overall I felt they had not achieved a solid group design and aim and due to only presenting a film it seemed that there was a real lack of presentation material.

Our group began by playing our film on the projected screen. It is a film that explains our conceptual development through to our final design but is linked by the central theme of the ‘illusion of depth in space’.
Overall we felt the film was a success and was the perfect springboard for our presentation. After the film, we talked through our presentation sheets and development document, leading into an explanation of our process recorded through a series of models. I believe Will Alsop was happy with the amount of work the group presented and was surprised when we told him there was still another stage of our presentation. We had taken the computer generated model and turned it into a game; starting in the courtyard - the objective was to move through the installation and up the changing levels to the top floor. We created this to engage our tutor with the whole of the installation and not simply aspects of it. He enjoyed the game and was complimentary to the amount of work we produced.

The final groups concept was aimed at making Will Alsop’s offices more accessible from the courtyard. The idea of having practical connections was one of our main concepts but theirs was very much focused towards Will Alsop whereas ours had been for all the tutors and students using the TU courtyard.
The group then moved onto their models, where they had produced a beautifully made 1:100 version of their installation; as well as a 1:1 model that showed their experimentation with light and atmosphere.
I believe the work they produced was successful due to its simplicity and channelled focus. The models and film were very well put together but my only criticism was that there was not enough of a focus on the illusion they were trying to create within the space.

I returned home happy and confident that we had done well. We have to wait for the marks; there may have to be some changes made for our portfolio presentations but overall I was pleased with our group work and final review.

Our studio viewing the final group's model

Will Alsop inspecting the final group's 1:1 atmospheric model

20.06.11

This afternoon I decided that I should venture to Schottentor to enjoy the beautiful weather and sketch an aspect of the Votivkirche. The 19^th Century church was built opposite the Molker –Bastei where a tailor had tried to assassinate the Emperor Franz Joseph in 1853. The church was designed by Heinrich von Ferstel and had many chapels dedicated to Austrian regiments and military heroes.
In my opinion its striking spires are the most attractive of the churches in Vienna and the intricate detailing manages to flow seeminglessly across the facades. It was a stunning afternoon and it is always a pleasure to sit and enjoy the architecture of Vienna, especially in my last few weeks here.

A5 Sketch; aspect of east wing of Voltivkirche, Schottentor, Wien.

17 - 19.06.11

This morning Ellen Leanne and I had our presentation for Spatial and Environmental Planning in CEE countries. We had taken a number of documents relating to the EU Danube Strategy and chose to focus on Transport and Tourism along the Danube.
We focused on the stretch between Vienna and Bratislava and proposed a central transport route to help create a more efficient, environmentally friendly and economic transport system. We proposed this system would interlink with sites along the stretch of river to help draw more tourists of wider interests and age groups and therefore help improve the local economy and infrastructure. This focused study was formulated in a way that it could be applied to different parts of the Danube in phases and has the potential to expand across a much larger stretch of the river.
Overall the presentation went well as we received positive feedback from our tutor and other students. We now simply have to make a few adjustments to our work and this will be presented in the form of a document. We were all able to return home feeling positive.

Later that day I left to meet a group of friends at the Urban Art Forms Festival in Wienneustadt.  This festival is Europe’s leading audiovisual festival and attracted many of Europe’s and some of the world’s best Dj’s, producers and bands.
The atmosphere of the festival was fantastic, the people were friendly and the setting was breathtaking. We set up our tents in the camp site and made our way over to the festival. The music venues were held in a complex of old Aircraft Hangers. The huge hangers filled with people and music created a special and unique atmosphere. We had a fantastic time together and were able to see all the acts we had planned to watch and apart from the rain on Saturday we were overjoyed with the experience.
Thank you Urban Art Forms!

08.06.11

Once again a fair amount of time has managed to fly past; the weather has been beautiful and work wise it has been extremely busy!
I now am starting to feel that I am on my final stretch here in Vienna. Flights home have been booked and conversations keep arising with friends as to whom is staying, going, for how long etc.

Today Ellen Leanne and I had to present our Informal Market proposal for 7Km Odessa, to our group. We had come up with a design proposal and concept that was presented onto two A1 sheets and was based on separating public shopping and private servicing areas. The concept was clear and we had identified the problems that we were trying to resolve from the start; overall the review went well and we left feeling confident. There is work still to be done before presenting to Portsmouth University but overall I am hoping this medium scale design project will fit nicely into the portfolio.

After the review session I managed to finish off a sketch of the Otto Wagner Karlsplatz Pavilion. I was unlucky as there was a major thunder storm, so I had to take refuge in the adjacent pavilion to finish my sketch with a nice large beer. Overall it was a good day and I have my fingers crossed that all my reviews all go well!

A5 Sketch of the Otto Wagner Pavilion at Karlsplatz. (I will replace with a scan soon)

A5 Sketch of the Otto Wagner Sunflower Motif at Karlsplatz. (I will replace with a scan soon)

17.05.11

My group for Fog Illusion and Space came together this morning to complete our model to present to Will Alsop. The difficulty of having a group of eight people is to refine and coordinate ideas; so due to the time constraints I felt that the model did not come together as I had imagined. Each person had taken their own approach to the task of creating an Installation in the courtyard space of the TU; and the central theme of moving through the space seemed to be clouded by the busy collection of sculptural installations.

The session with Will Alsop was focused around three group models. The first group had taken an artistic approach using patterns and small sculptural elements such as seating and shelters, but they were criticised that the installation was all at ground level and they had not taken advantage of the vertical space in the courtyard.

My group was the second to present and we received a varied response. Initially he commented on the fact that we had chosen to combine a number of different ideas without focusing on one. The chaotic mix meant that the central theme of movement through the space was lost. Each of us explained our approach to the installation and his opinion swayed towards a more positive stance. He began to comment on the richness of ideas and said that we need to stretch our ideas to the maximum by almost turning the courtyard void into a formulated solid space. We were left with both his positive and negative thoughts and he told us that film would be a good media to present in. We have a lot of work to do to coordinate our very different approaches, create a model, drawings and a film!

The final group was the most successful as they had taken an extremely strong concept from one of the individuals previous Illusion task and applied this as their central theme. They had used cut tubes to create very sculptural forms that separated the courtyard spaces but these were also successful at penetrating the verticality of the space. Overall they received a positive feedback and have set sail towards their final review.

After an enjoyable weekend and an extremely busy start to the week I felt that our group has a lot to do before our final presentation. I had mixed feelings as to how well the session had gone and ended up staying with a few individuals to talk to Will Alsop. Initially we spoke about work and then as the conversation evolved, a number of other topics arose. We sat talking for an hour or so and I left feeling much happier and really appreciated the time and the conversation.

Presenting our models to Will Alsop

13 - 16.05.11

This weekend a good friend of mine Chris Leonard (aka Shaggy) came to visit me in Vienna. He travelled from Warszawa where he is working for the year and it was an absolute pleasure to have him here!

The shock news of the weekend was that Will Alsop decided at the last minute to bring our next session forward to Tuesday the 17^th. This left our group almost no time to prepare our model and coordinate ideas. There is nothing like panic to get a group working, so we managed to work quickly and efficiently on the group model. We managed to get a considerable amount done but the final coordination would have to be done on the day.

09.05.11

I spent my morning in the local park just on the corner of Molkereistrasse reading through some texts for my Technics and Civilisation course. The clear blue sky and beautiful sunshine was a real pleasure but also made it quite difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. Overall it was a productive session and I was able to enjoy the weather.

Later that evening I attended my first rugby training session in Wien. A friend from my halls has been playing at the club for the year and encouraged me to join for a training session. The group was fantastic and all of the guys were extremely friendly, greeting us and encouraging the new players throughout the training.
I found my fitness was my biggest let down but it was a real pleasure to start playing rugby again!

2-7.05.11

The first week back at university flew by! On Monday morning I found myself the only person to attend Technic and Civilisation which worked out quite nicely for me as I had a one on one session talking through my essay plan and ideas, this was very productive and now am in the position where I simply need to get writing!
The next sessions that we had were part of the final leg of the Architecture, Construction and Settlement lecture block. The idea of block lectures is quite efficient as you receive a lot of information in a short burst and this leaves more time to focus on the tasks set.
On Friday I had to present my findings on Informal Markets, I had focused on the Tirol and informal markets such as slope side bars that have started to feature more and more over a number of recent years. The rest of the class had interesting ideas and each person had targeted and delivered their findings well. The presentations were done through a variety of media such as PowerPoint and film; what was the most interesting for me was how widely the topic was interpreted. Overall the sessions were productive and another task has been set based on reinventing the Km7 market in Odessa. I look forward to the new task and can not wait to start designing!

16 - 24.04.11

A longer trip than initially expected but it was amazing to be able to spend time with my fantastic family! We had a week skiing planned in Obergurgl in the Tirol of Austria. It is one of the highest resorts in Europe and was sure to have snow even this late in the season. I had taken the train from Wien to Innsbruck and met my family at Innsbruck airport where we took a connecting bus to the mountains.
The hotel was lovely, great food and stunning views. Unfortunately on the first day Mama fell quite ill while on the slopes, she was very brave and went through a very hard time over the holiday. I am so glad that I was able to spend the time with you and I hope that you return to full health as soon as possible.
Overall the surroundings, the town, the slopes and the people were fantastic; I would definitely recommend Obergurgl. The family returned home safely and even managed to get back to London quicker than it did for me to return to Wien, but I am happy that we all got back after a great time away together; and most importantly wishing Mama a quick recovery!

15.04.11

Today was our second session with Will Alsop. We were presenting our assigned task to create an Illusion.
I had prepared my work in the form of an A3 document which I was going to present on my laptop.
Once we had all settled down Will Alsop greeted us and due to the session starting late we were going to begin immediately. He looked at me and told me I would be the first to present. I did not have time to set up the laptop so instead I used the printed document as my aid in the presentation.
Overall I believe that the presentation went well and I felt I put my points across and was very impressed that Will Alsop managed to read the first hidden message in my Wall Art composition.
The rest of the group delivered a number of different forms of illusions in a variety of media and materials. Ellen created a subliminal film that was meant to generate subconscious thoughts of hunger. Leanne created an illusion of materials that were posing as one form but made from another. There were interesting experiments with models made with reflective materials, a few fantastic concepts based on using mirrors in enclosed spaces and a few interesting videos made.
It was a intriguing to see different angles and perceptions of other students in the group. Quite a few people had really excelled in the task and showed that sometimes the most simple ideas are the most successful as everybody can understand these. The combination of different techniques and ideas was an interesting experience for me and one that I had not experienced at my previous university. Overall it was an exciting day but we have also now got to start preparing for the next task; we are to translate our illusions into an installation in the university courtyard. This more artistic approach to architecture is probing many questions as to where the course may lead us but, it has also been a refreshing approach to working and seeing architecture being taught from a very different angle.

Look Closer You Can See Unread Messages

05.04.11

Today I was free from lectures and was able to enjoy the 23° C sunshine on the Danube. I had stocked up on paint and returned to where I had painted before but decided not to use the same spot (which had been painted over) but to work alongside a two storey high piece who's concept was cleverly designed around the Wiener Ubahn map. I knew by working next to such a large piece mine would be dwarfed by its size but I wanted to work with some of the patterns and colours which the artist had used and bring these into mine as we both have a similar style. I also wanted to see that if by working next to a clearly respected piece, would my work last longer than a few days before being painted over?

Working alongisde and with the 7m high Wiener Ubahn piece

The painting went really well and I even managed to make some friends! I met a few artists who were genuinely fantastic guys. They were very pleasant and were great for some inside knowledge of the area and painters. I found out from them why were I had painted previously had not lasted; they told me it was due to the fact that it was the only part of the legal wall that could be seen from the Ubahn as it pulled into Schottenring station. They also told me about the artist who had painted the Wiener Ubahn map that I had chosen to paint next to, as well as having a number of other interesting stories to tell.

My Illusion piece - Unread Messages (Focus on the Orange)

Unread Messages Revealed

My piece was once again focusing on generating an illusion; within this hiding a message. It was a long day but once again the time flew past and my piece developed on. In the end I felt the colour scheme and style that I had chosen worked well, and by using some basic lines and colours from the neighbouring piece it tied in well with the spot. I used a few different techniques this time to break up the image and I fell that each time I paint in this new style I learn a little more. Overall it was a very successful day!

Unread Messages Illsuion, working into the neighbouring piece

01.04.11 - 05.04.11

More time has flown by without even realising! I am starting to really worry how quickly it is all happening!

Friday Morning I went into university to find my theory lecture had been cancelled, so I waited for the next lecture which was at mid day, in the coffee house with my sketch book. We then had our lecture on the Danube strategy and at the end explained our proposals for which aspect of the study we would be looking at.

Saturday was a mixed day for me. I returned to the Danube canal by Schottenring to continue painting my piece and photograph my work properly, only to find a group with their rollers and paint buckets priming the wall. I felt the money I had spent on paint and hours I had put into the piece disappear. It was very frustrating as they had no regard to maybe working with some of the colours or patterns I had put painted. I believe there is the difference between Wall Art and Graffiti.

Wall Artists work with the unique character of the existing urban fabric, colours, patterns and textures. They strive to unite and nit together individual aspects and works to constantly try and improve the aesthetics of walls.

A Graffiti Artists wants only to make a statement by blanking out the rich existing canvas and place his work in a format that demands attention even if detached from its context.

I did not stay around to watch as I had the faint hope that maybe they were going to produce something beautiful and improve on what was there before. Instead I met up with Alexa and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in the sun on the canal. I retuned at the end of the day to where I had originally painted only to find the group were clearly not experienced graffiti writers, as to be honest their work was dreadful.

It took a while but I knew from the start that painting on walls has a very short life expectancy and that as it is legal anybody can paint there. In the UK the unwritten rule ‘you do not paint over unless you can improve’ clearly does not count here. A lesson was learnt and by the evening it had only fuelled me with more enthusiasm to return and further improve the legal walls, my work and continue working with pieces that were successful along the stretch of the canal.

On Monday I attended Technics and Civilisation and continued my discussions on my possible essay hypothesis. I found the session interesting but rather than narrowing my thoughts down, in fact opened up a number of other possible directions. After this session I decided that I must focus more clearly now and begin writing my essay.

Tuesday morning I attended my Image processing class and we were introduced to our next assignment. Every week I feel I am learning more useful tools and am able to apply these to my other work which has proved very helpful.

31.03.11

21° C blue skies and a day with no lectures timetabled meant only one thing for me, and that was to go and begin painting. I chose the Donau Canal due to its beautiful surroundings and close location to home. I packed up my spray cans, put on my painting clothes and headed out.

I chose a spot which was in a bad condition, but for me it was a perfect spot. It was in the sun and just underneath a set of stairs from the street level down. When I paint I work with the existing fabric of the walls, from brick work to previous pieces, existing colours and patterns. I have a strong belief that with legal walls you should not paint over work that you can not do better; this means that walls are only improving and if artists where to paint using each other’s pieces then it forms a unified, interesting and constantly developing work of art. Over the years this is what I have tried to do and I hoped to be able to continue and improve further in Vienna.

My work was a direct response to my thoughts from Will Alsop’s set task and the existing urban fabric. I wanted to create an artistic illusion that would convey a hidden message. Many people use the stretch of the canal I was working on for jogging and riding bikes. These people move past along the stretch of river at quite a speed, even people walking do. Wall Art reads differently in the way Impressionists work does, from up close to far away. Forms, letters, colours are completely different as your views, angles and distances change. I wanted to test these.

Can You See (Focus on the Orange)

Can You See Revealed

As I painted a number of people stopped and just focused on my work, allowing me to continue; some looked at the way I painted, others came and spoke to me about my work. A few enquired into the meaning behind it. It was interesting how the reactions ranged from different people and how perceptions of these individuals changed. This I believe may be the direction I am moving in regards to not only my Wall Art but possibly my Architecture.

Hidden Illusions in response to the people I experienced using the Donau Canal

My Piece, working with the existing urban fabric

30.03.11

Arriving at university was a very different experience today. It was our first session with Will Alsop in his Hochbau Department. A group of nervous students sat waiting to be called into the studio space, the atmosphere quite tense. None of us knew what to expect or how the session was going to work. Once we were called I could feel my heart rate increasing as the reality of the situation came to light; the group squeezed into the small room with Will Alsop sat calmly smoking a cigarette. He smiled at the group and began to comment on the size of the group. He then asked for people to sign the registration list and as the list went around noticed a number of students who were not officially registered. Once the list had gone around he began to ask those that were not registered why they wanted to be in his class. He put these individuals on the spot and some managed to reply and others found the initial pressure of being under the spot light very difficult to handle. I was even more nervous at this point as even though we were registered he was exerting his authority and testing how people were reacting to this. The mood then changed as he explained that he would allow everybody that has turned up to the session to attend but he also made it very clear that if anybody wanted to leave they should. We then each in turn introduced ourselves and where we were from. When he heard he had three of us from Portsmouth University he commented that he remembered Niall and Paul from last year and that it was nice to have students from Portsmouth back. I expect we have high expectations to fulfil!

After the introductions he began to talk to us about Fog, Illusion and Space. He began to discuss feelings and how humans experience places and how this can be affected by elements such as atmosphere. He then started to talk about Illusions and the range of these that have been produced in the past. He asked us to invent an Illusion, to test it and see if we can do something unique. He told us the task would be difficult as we would all fall into using past precedent but that our results of this task would then influence the next, as well as our focus and direction of our project work.

Will Alsop’s character and approach to teaching is something I have never experienced before and nerves slowly turned to excitement. His thoughts and ideas were all extremely clear, he spoke slowly and articulately, pausing often and keeping eye contact with his students. His ideas of experiences, how to explore ideas and the importance of being ourselves and to never loose this was inspiring.

The session then moved into us engaging and asking questions. I asked a few, mostly about his art and which individuals had been important influences for him. The momentum of the session was steady, a number of people sat quietly, others engaged and some sat with their notepad and pen. Overall the atmosphere that he generated and the attention he gave us, I believe was appreciated all around. His clear and steady approach and thoughtful answers and questions highlighted occasionally with a very direct statement was something I will never forget. I hope that I can grow and improve as a student and a person with his influence.

In the afternoon my mind was ticking over, reflecting on the morning session and the task at hand. I was feeling quite drained and had felt that I needed to get out and go for a walk. I took my ‘Urban Guide to Vienna’ and went hunting for a paint shop and for legal walls to paint on. My Wall Art is something that I have been developing over a number of years and have only very recently began to refine my technique away from the usual styles of Wall Art and Graffiti. I began to think of my Illusion task and how I could possibly do this in an art form. It was a beautiful day and I visited around 7 legal walls but decided that the Donau Canal was my favoured spot.

Donaul Canal Legal Walls near Schottenring

29.03.11

The morning session with Arnold Faller was once again a success. We learnt a number of new tools and tricks for Photoshop and the time flew by. In the afternoon we were introduced to Margret Rudy’s Forms of Practice unit. In this we spoke about a range of things from Accessibility in design and also how to measure or test the success of buildings after they have been completed. Many architects do not review the positives and negatives of their projects once completed and lived in; we are trying to formulate a plan on how to test these through questionnaires data collection and research.

28.03.2011

This morning Oliver Schurer began the Technic and Civilisation session by telling us what he wanted from us as students. He began to explain how the theory department would review us and how we should approach our work. His approach is very different to what I have been used to, but to be honest I believe is better. He believes that we should not be limited by word counts, layouts and formatting as this in his opinion only hinders and restricts student’s development. The theory department want to read and fully understand our work and findings; and how we present it should be in the format that we feel most comfortable with to put our points across. The aim for us is to research, discuss and then focus on a key topic within our studies. He also gave us the option to blog our research and evolving hypotheses. He encouraged us to share our knowledge and sources as most students are very protective of their findings and unwilling to share information. From his perspective learning is the most important thing; not just learning from the tutor or from our own findings but from our fellow students, this way we learn not from a few people but as a group. The atmosphere he creates is open and friendly, there is no tension or worry about saying the wrong or right things. The mature approach and feeling that everybody is equal is something which is difficult to achieve and so far in the TU I have finally seen this and how beneficial it can be. He really makes our sessions a pleasurable learning experience, for that I am very grateful and I know in these conditions I will do my best to perform as well as I can.

After the lecture I decided to visit the Museums Quartier area to have a look at the surrounding buildings and grounds. My eye was drawn to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) and Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum). The two buildings face each other with the Maria Theresia Platz as the focus in the middle. The statue of Maria Theresa is by Kasper von Zumbusch and shows the empress holding the sanction of 1713 that made it official for a woman to succeed to the throne. The two main buildings have matching facades (except for a few details) and were designed by Gottfried Semper and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer and built between 1872 and 1891. The two museums on the Ringstrasse were originally built to house the Habsburg’s formidable art collection and for it to be available to the public.

The Naturhistorisches Museum

Statue of Maria Theresia with her Generals, Nobles and Advisors

Tomorrow I have Image Processing in the morning and then the first Forms of Practice seminar of the term, I am looking forward to these so I better get an early night. On Wednesday we also have our first design unit session with Will Alsop which I am very excited about and intrigued as to what Fog Illusion and Space holds in store for me!

My A5 sketch of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Entrance

27.03.11

A week has flown by since my last blog. The time here is really starting to disappear quickly! A combination of university work and beautiful weather is always hard to balance! On Tuesday this week I had the next session of Image Processing where we focused on the basic sciences of photography. Once again this was a fantastic session for me, opening my understanding and ideas for such a great subject. Arnold Faller looked at the past and present technologies, how they were and are used and the practicalities behind these; overall I was very happy and thoroughly enjoyed the session. The rest of the week has been spent doing a mixture of research for my Technic and Civilisation unit as well as trying to catch up on my Havant project from the first semester which I need to represent for my portfolio. It took me quite a while to get back into the flow of using Micro GDS (my chosen CAD system) and has reminded me how time consuming drawing is.

On Friday we had our second lecture from Petra Hirschler on Spatial and Environmental Planning in ECC countries, this time introducing us straight into the Danube project we will be studying. The scale of the proposals and number of countries it involves was a shock; especially how different strategies in Europe are due to the number of places they affect. Coordination seems to be the key, but the reality of this over such a large expanse of river is quite unrealistic – especially when each country has its own ideas and proposals. At the end of the session we were told to get into groups and begin thinking about a comparative study that we can look at and begin formulating across to the Danube.

The weekend has flown by, but during the week we were lucky enough to have blue skies and temperatures reaching 18 Degrees Celsius! When you are blessed with such conditions it would be rude not to enjoy it especially seeing as we are located just across the road from the Prater Park!

Stephansdom on Wednesday evening

20.03.11

After the miserable weather yesterday, Vienna was once again transformed into spring. I took this opportunity to travel to Karlsplatz to do some more sketching. I sat myself in front of the Karlskirche and began drawing in my little A5 sketchbook.

During 1713 Vienna suffered from a plague epidemic. The emperor at the time Karl VI promised that he would build a church dedicated to the patron saint of the plague St Charles Borromeo once the plight was over. Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach won the design competition with his high Baroque piece. The church took nearly 25 years to complete and the architect’s eclectic style is very evident. The two columns that rise up to either side of the main portico were inspired by Trajan’s column in Rome and are decorated with scenes of St Charles Borromeo’s life. The portico also has reliefs on the pediment showing the suffering of the Viennese during the plague. Overall in my opinion the church is compositionally and proportionally quite unique; it was a pleasure to study and sketch the church which I have passed so many times going to and from university.

My A5 sketch of Karlskirche

19.03.11

Seeing as it was raining today it was definitely a wise choice to go to the Albertina Museum to see the Mel Ramos, Roy Lichtenstein and Der Blaue Reiter exhibitions. Ellen and her sister who was visiting Vienna also wanted to go so we travelled together.

The Albertina entrance at Ground Level with the Wiener Staatoper in the background

 

The Albertina Museum in the rain at First Floor Entry Level

The first exhibtion we went to was 'Mel Ramos - Girls, Candies and Comics'. Mel Ramos was an important artist in the Pop Art movement; on display were many of his paintings and preliminary sketches from his early comic imagery such as Wonder Woman to his famous commercial pin-ups. His stylish approach and clever use of depicting brands in a stylish and sexy style was a reflection of American culture and consumerism. The larger than life popular images were all very well executed and well presented in the exhibition. I personally found his ‘Salute to Art History’ the most interesting. He had taken a number of nude pictures by classical masters and represented these using modern poses and figures. Although my initial reaction to the exhibition was not great I began to appreciate his artistic qualities, techniques and development.

The second exhibtion was 'Roy Lichtenstein - Black & White 1961-1968'. Roy Lichtenstein’s iconic imagery is known across the world. He was also inspired by advertising, consumerism and the popular cultures of the 1960’s; over a number of years he began to refine his technique of painting down to a very graphical and impact driven style. What made Lichtenstein interesting was taking subjects and objects from every day life into art. His aim to draw people’s attention to things that would never have thought to have been art – and turning into art, was very successful. Although now like so many famous artists and architects before us, his thought process has been forgotten by many. In my opinion what made his work special was his unique thinking and choice of subject that had never been done previously; now that so many people repeat and reproduce work in his style has really made these more recent works meaningless. We have seen this with the use of glass and steel being taken from Mies van de Rohes ideas of purity and light and being ravaged by the commercial market as a technique of producing buildings quickly and cheaply.

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition and was intrigued by the details and complexity of some of his images. I studied his work previously but seeing it at first hand has once again reinforced my respect for him and my appreciation of less sometimes being more.

The main attraction for me to visit the Albertina had been to see 'Der Blaue Reiter - From the Lenbachhaus and the Albertina'. Der Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider Group) was a group of artists who all followed similar artistic ideas, it is said that the name came from Franz Marc’s love for horses and Kandinsky’s enthusiams for riding, combined with the idea of blue being the colour of spirituality and unity in their work and in the world. Der Blauer Reiter, alongside the Cubists and Futurists are some of my favourite groups and movements in art. I was heavily influenced by these in my art work at school and up to the present day. The range of techniques and approaches from the group is astonishing but unlike many other movements most of the artists had very different styles.

The exhibition had works from August Macke, Franz Marc, Marianne von Werefkin, Alexej von Jawlensky, Wassily Kandinsky, Robert Delaunay, Heinrich Campendonk, Gabriele Münter, Paul Klee, and Alfred Kubin. The common theme of all these artists was the common desire to express spiritual truths through their art works. Each section of the exhibition revealed works that I had never seen or associated the group to previously. There were clear connections to music, nature, life and death; with all of the results drawing me into understanding the movement even more. I was impressed and in some cases even a little disappointed with some individual pieces but as a collection and seeing it all together was incredible.

My highlight was seeing Franz Marc’s works. His dreamy images and in some cases very complex compositions seemed to sooth and slow the pace of the exhibition down after moving through the Klee and Kandinsky sections. In particular my favourite pieces were actually the smallest and most subtle compositions in the form of postcards that Marc had written to the likes on Kandinsky and Kubin. His expert application of paint and refinement of detail on the 10x15 bits of card really captured the essence of the group and the relationships within it.

I left with a spring in my step and itching to get drawing. Overall each exhibition was a wonderful experience but for me the series of Kandinsky, Klee and Marc were the most moving. Seeing the doodles, sketches, paintings and prints that were clearly meant for nothing but the artist’s pleasure was a real honour to see.

The Wiener Staatoper from the First Floor Entry Level of the Albertina Museum

15.03.11

The morning lecture ‘Image Processing’ was focusing on using Photoshop. I have been using this programme for a few years but was surprised on how many techniques and tools I had been missing out on. Arnold Faller once again not only spoke about how to use these but also the process behind it. We worked on image sizing, layering and colour modes. He went into detail of most of what he has introduced us to in his first lecture (see 08.03.11) and left us with a task to complete before the next lecture.

After the lecture Zoe, Jane, Ellen and Leanne had planned a trip to the woods just outside of Vienna. I was invited along and although very inappropriately dressed for hiking in the woods I went along! We took a train to Ottakring (the last stop on the u3) and then a 10 minute bus ride to the beautiful Kierlinger Forest. I was surprised at the change in landscape and scenery and how close the centre was to such beautiful natural surroundings. We hiked up to one of the peaks where we climbed the Wintersperre Tower to take in the stunning views of Vienna and the surrounding landscape.

At the top of the Wintersperre Tower

 The view back towards Vienna

We followed the trails and stopped for lunch by a peaceful meadow. The sun was shining and the warm weather had us all in a jolly mood. After our long walk we found ourselves having a well deserved drink in the Aurora Bar before heading home. It was a great trip and we all returned to the city centre later that day in high spirits!

Walking through the beautiful surroundings

14.03.11

This morning I attended Oliver Schurer’s ‘Technic and Civilisation’ lecture. The course was taught in both German and English, he would switch confidently between the languages and I believe that I managed to engage well with the lecture. It was difficult at times but it seemed that he would explain in one language and conclude in another, so I felt confident that we were not at a disadvantage in his class. 

He talked us through how ideas in architecture had played a large influence in the creation of technological systems. He explained that some systems were more successful than others and many initial ideas were not brought to fruition until years later when the technology was finally available or invented. He spoke passionately about how science and engineering has been a benefit for people and our lives. Schurer was just as interested by the ideas that had not ever reached the stage of actually working, as to those that were worked through to final concepts or products.

We were then given a list of theoretical and architectural schemes that he felt encapsulated or fulfilled these; we were then asked to research on a chosen scheme and prepare a presentation for discussion at the next session.

The next lecture was with Andreas Hofer on ‘Architecture, Construction and Settlements’. Last week we had discussed formal and informal markets. We had looked at countries across the world and how they had reacted or transformed to political changes – especially to those in Europe.

This week he had decided that due to the earthquake that shocked Japan he wanted to focus on settlements that grew or were created due to disasters. Although not a natural disaster, he chose to look at Tschernobyl, the effects of the disaster, how the government and people reacted to this and then the settlements that were created to re-house those that were affected by this.

I must admit that the lecture made me realise how little I knew on the subject. We spoke about the ecological, cultural, social and economic changes and focused then on the development of Slavutich (built to re-house and re-structure lives after the disaster). The lecture looked at design influences and models used and applied, then moved onto its present state.

The openness of his lectures means that all of his student’s engage willingly with him and the subject. At the end of the session he asked us to prepare a statement and short presentation on ‘Informality in my surroundings’. This related more to our first lecture but was to encourage us to think about types of informality, the advantages and disadvantages to the people involved and how we view these in our lives.

13.03.11

Today I spent the afternoon sitting on the ground outside of the Upper Belvedere Palace with my sketch book. I managed to sit myself in the prime 'photo spot' much to the annoyance of many people, but with headphones in I zoned out for a couple of hours and sunk into studying the facade of the palace. I notice the variety of details and clever techniques used to break up the facade. This was my second visit to the Belvedere Palace (see 22-23.02.11) but my first sketch since arriving in Vienna as up until now it had been too cold to sit out and sketch. Hopefully this will be the first of many!

My A5 sketch of the Upper Belveder Palace

As the clouds came over and the temperatures dropped I decided to go and meet a group of friends in the 'Klienes Cafe' just off Franziskanerplatz. The tiny cafe is said to be one of the smallest, quaintest coffee houses in central Vienna. It had a lovely atmosphere and there was a range of people sitting inside from students to tourists to locals sitting and enjoying the Sunday newspaper.

Zoe, Alexa, Jane, Leanne and Ellen inside the atmospheric Klienes Cafe

11.03.11

This morning I met the BA2 group at the TU. Most of the group (including myself) had been up very late partying due to it having been their last night. I took the more subdued than usual group on a tour around the TU. I decided to show them just a few of the key aspects of the building including some of the departments. I had hoped to be able to take them to see the exhibition of student’s work which had been up the week before, but I was very disappointed when I found out that the studio rooms had all been locked up. We were lucky as one student had come to pick up her work and had borrowed the key from her tutor, so the group were able to see a few examples of some interesting models and drawings that had been left out. They were also able to grasp an understanding of the spaces and how the school was divided up.

I hope that they enjoyed the experience and were encouraged to maybe come and study here in the future!

I'm not sure what I am doing here, but I believe I am explaining something to the group

As it was the groups last day, Greg Bailey had chosen to take the group to see the Hunderwasser Apartments; here we sat down in the restaurant on the ground floor for lunch. After eating, the students presented Greg and Lynn with a beautiful book on Hunderwasser to show their appreciation for having had taken them to Vienna.

It was fantastic to see how much the students valued Greg and Lynn’s time and how grateful they were for taking them to such a wonderful city. Greg’s expertise and passion had obviously been soaked up by the students and from my perspective they all see Greg not only as a tutor but as a friend.

It was a pleasure to see this and I think that we all see and respect Greg not only as a tutor but as an amazing person and a valued friend. Thank you for your inspiration and for being a great individual. You have had an impact on all of us and nobody will forget it!

Greg and Lin Bailey with the BA2 Vienna study group outside the Hundderwasser Apartments



10.03.11

This morning I attended the first lecture by Andreas Hoffer on ‘Architecture, Construction and Settlements’. The unit is taught in English and the tutor told us that he wanted his students to engage in discussion throughout the sessions.

He began talking about the ideas and processes behind the ‘formal and informal markets’; looking at building from the initial idea through to reality and how this ranges around the world. We discussed the fine line between the legal and illegal sides of these forms and discovered how fine this line was. The group seemed to all have a very mature approach to the discussions and Andreas Hoffer had a very successful approach to his teaching; his combination of a good sense of humour and in-depth knowledge of the subject kept us all engaged.

Nearing the end of the session he began to explain that at the Masters level he expected us to bring our own approaches to the set work. He showed us examples of previous student’s work and encouraged us to start thinking about how we prefer to work. He showed us examples of students that presented work in film format, as drawing designs, as well as more traditional essays and courseworks. It seems the freedom given is to encourage his students to work to their abilities, overall it was a great session and I look forward to the next.

Later that evening we went out and a few of the BA2’s joined us. They met our social group and we all enjoyed ourselves drinking and dancing until the early hours of the morning.

09.03.11

Today Ellen, Leanne and I attended the introduction to the Theory units. We had spoken to a couple of the tutors previously (see 03.03.11) who had been fantastically helpful and accommodating. We listened to a few other tutors (mostly speaking in German) and tried to grasp the concept of their units. Oliver Schurer once again came to our rescue and introduced us to the other students and also informed us of a few other units that could be taught in English; we were introduced to Rudy Margit who happened to be an American tutor. After the introductions had finished, we went over to her to ask more about her course. She began to explain the details of her unit which focuses on architectural education, competitions and social factors with an overall focus on ‘Post Occupancy Evaluation.’ In this we would help her with her research and work towards a final evaluation of our own which would then be published! To have this opportunity would be fantastic; we are definitely signing up for her course.

Later that evening Ellen and I met up with Steve and the BA2’s to take them out for dinner. Ellen had booked a restaurant named ‘Centimeter’ which boasts a wide variety of beers and has two special ‘dishes’ on the menu; the first being a sword, and the second a wheelbarrow. The sword has a variety of meats and other wonderful things skewed onto it, and the wheelbarrow is exactly what it is described as but full to the brim with food. The beers came in 1meter high tubes with taps at the bottom and ‘went down’ very well! The group was well fed and very happy by the time we left.

We then moved onto a bar named ‘Donau’, which is a bit of a secret spot. There are no signs, lights or even any sign of life from outside, we actually walked past it three times without finding it. Once you enter through the large heavy doors you walk into a space with high ceilings forming into archways with hundreds of tiny acoustic panels hanging from above. There were projections all around and one wall was filled with vinyl fixed to it. The underground vibe and ‘down step minimal’ music generated a unique atmosphere. A very cool place indeed and worth visiting; if you can find it!