DannyB

Karl Seitz Hof

The U-bahn train on line U3 came to a momentary stop outside Florisdorf station. It was a moment to catch up with myself. It’s like you suddenly become yourself again, remember who you are, waking up from a walking daydream through the city streets. An elderly woman walked past me pulling a shopping trolley. SheContinue reading “Karl Seitz Hof”

Red Vienna: A Radical Walk

Update: Thursday 31 July 2025I am organising a ‘Red Vienna Radical Walk’ on Sunday 28 September 2025. Meet outside the Rabenhof Theatre, Rabengasse 3, 1030 Wien at 14.00More details here:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1548015378669?aff=oddtdtcreator If you want more details use the contact form, link on the top right corner of this page. * * * * * * *Continue reading “Red Vienna: A Radical Walk”

Sandleiten Gemeindebau, Vienna

It is not obvious that there are over 1,500 apartments in the Sandleiten estate, housing perhaps 5 – 6,000 people. There is a powerful sense of air, light, space, nature. The original planning and architectural principles of Rote Wien are well expressed. The estate was built in phases between 1924 – 29 and is theContinue reading “Sandleiten Gemeindebau, Vienna”

Josef Wiedenhofer Hof

A Sunday Afternoon Walk. On the Hernalser Hauptstrasse there is a Turkish baker’s that sells the most delicious bread rolls and Mohnkuchen. The inside of the bread is as fluffy as one imagines a cloud to be. The outer crust just the right amount of crisp. I slice through the bread rolls and spread thickContinue reading “Josef Wiedenhofer Hof”

Goethehof, Vienna: First Impressions

What follows is just a word-sketch of an afternoon visit to Goethehof in Vienna. I have flawed conversational German, have never visited any archive in Vienna (although I would like to) and have access to only a small number of books while I’m staying in the city. But sometimes impressions can be useful in termsContinue reading “Goethehof, Vienna: First Impressions”

The train to Red Vienna

The internet never sleeps. Throughout the night, cloud services, DNS servers, satellites, fibre optic networks, submarine cables are full of the relentless energy of packet switching data. In the early morning I wake up after a restless sleep in a cheap hotel room in Zurich. ‘Try the clear Zurich water!’ a sign says on theContinue reading “The train to Red Vienna”

The train to Zurich

The waiting time marches along quite briskly. I walk around St Pancras station, buy some more snacks, a roll, extra water, cheese straws, a large bar of chocolate. The days have become blurred and confused. It’s Thursday but I’m out of synch with myself by 24 hours. It’s still Wednesday somewhere in my head thatContinue reading “The train to Zurich”

Unwrapping a Book

The book is in a white padded envelope. At one end there is a thin red tape and when that’s pulled it rips through the outer shell and the book can be pulled out. There is now a layer of clear plastic bubble wrap. Perhaps it’s that sort of day. I peel away the sellotapeContinue reading “Unwrapping a Book”

Fragmentation and Unity

A fragmentation and unity of machines. Machines in individual locations, factories separated from one another, in competition to produce the means of life. The widespread standard of TCP/IP, proprietary software systems that cannot be integrated, producing replication and barriers to data sharing, oligarchic control of DNS servers, fibre optic networks. The lines of computing codeContinue reading “Fragmentation and Unity”

Karl Marx in Soho, 1851

A dozen sheets of paper, printed with double-spacing. It’s easier to read. It is a collection of streets in Soho, and Dean Street in particular. A list of dates of buildings and their uses, trades and occupations and the details of the 1851 census. At number 28 Dean Street is recorded Charles Mark, his wifeContinue reading “Karl Marx in Soho, 1851”