The Labour government has recently announced plans to build 1.5 million homes. Keir Starmer has promised ‘shovels in the ground and cranes in the sky’, suggesting that this is the only way to create that most mysterious place, the future. All this digging of trenches, pouring of concrete, chopping down of trees and no doubtContinue reading “No More Buildings”
Category Archives: Radical Walks
Otto Prutscher
There are many routes to follow in tracing Red Vienna. Walking towards a planned destination; walking as a means of discovery, walking as an ambient experience within the envelopment of the city. Walking as both a journey and a destination. There is no need for rules or dogma. Chance, accident-ism, everything and anything. Walking inContinue reading “Otto Prutscher”
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 Liberty Tree
A few quite casual things started to come together. I’d been reading EP Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class in preparation for a Radical Walk with the title of Praed Street & the Liberty Tree. I’m not quite sure why I picked Praed Street. It appeared, as it were, in a daydream. IContinue reading “The Liberty Tree”
Praed Street & the Liberty Tree
Walking through the revolving doors of a identikit London office block (the basic components are concrete, glass and steel, rearranged in a small number of patterns), out into the cold, wet and dark winter evening. I turned the collar of my coat up against the wind. The wind seemed out of place in the neonContinue reading “Praed Street & the Liberty Tree”
Red Vienna: A Reading List
The Architecture of Red Vienna – Eve Blau This is a brilliant book on the subject of the architecture, design and politics of Red Vienna. A template as to how the architectural histories of cities can be approached. The Austrian Revolution – Otto Bauer This is essential reading for the political context of the originsContinue reading “Red Vienna: A Reading List”
Commodity Fetishism 