The Naschmarkt in Wien is as good a place as any to study the national question. It feels as if all the people of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire are here, selling the accumulated debris of the centuries. Amidst the tacky kitsch are art-deco dinner services, relices of war, objects of Empire. Some of the peopleContinue reading “All Collected up at the Naschmarkt”
Category Archives: Wien
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 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”
Red Vienna: A Reading List
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 Reading List”
Watching Vermeer
Compulsion is a curious force. It suddenly wells up inside and shoots us off in the opposite direction to that of expected travel. Compulsion arrived at around 8.30 this morning and kicked me out of bed with orders to be at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien by ten o’clock. It was important that I was theContinue reading “Watching Vermeer”
Commodity Fetishism 