After successful completion of the course, students are able to understand and question existing structures architecturally by means of independent research. Students are challenged to formulate their own critical position towards the building task and to use this as a basis for the development of conceptual and spatial solutions. In doing so, they are able to establish interrelationships between an individual building and an urban spatial structure.
Building on this analytical work, they are able to represent, discuss and present the design project in plan, perspective, model and text.
The term assignment explores the Viennese block as a building type and living space. We consider the Viennese block as an interplay of economic, socio-political and structural aspects that determine life in a growing metropolis. The focus of the investigation is on the building structure, the materiality and production, the public space between the facades and the urban life inside the block. The design task is to supplement an existing Viennese block.
The Gründerzeit buildings still define urban life in Vienna today and, with a lifespan of over a hundred years, are one of the city's most enduring building structures. The use of local materials such as brick and wood as well as the openness of use make the structure one of the most sustainable in our city's history.
Following the radical urban redevelopment of Paris, in 1857, with the demolition of the Vienna city wall under Emperor Franz-Joseph, the unbuilt Glacis was designated an – in this scale –unprecedented inner-city planning task. The prestigious residential development of the ‟plan view” for the area was also an important economic factor, as numerous monumental buildings could be erected along the Ringstrasse with the sale of the building plots. In the urban expansion areas, which went hand in hand with the incorporation of the suburbs, grid planning determined the ‟Viennese block”. Behind the mostly magnificently ornamented façades, which represented the cultural and economic boom of the 19th century, were clear, economical floor plans that combined living, working and commercial space in one building and could accommodate luxurious living space as well as mass housing. The edge of the block, strictly regulated by building standards, still features a surprising variety of building volumes in the inside, which are constantly adapted to the different needs of the growing population.
Renowned architects such as Ludwig Förster and Theophil Hansen helped shape the development of Vienna's Gründerzeit buildings. However, the lasting success of the development can be seen more in the large-scale application of the building type in the context of socio-political, cultural, economic, technical and demographic developments in major European cities.
Can this successful model be carried over into the 21st century to meet the challenges that lie ahead? What role do we as architects play in this?
The exploration of the history and continuities of the ‟Viennese Block” is intended to architecturally rethink recognized potentials in a contemporary design in the context of the existing building.
While the typological and structural investigations are carried out by means of drawings and models, life in the block is to be recorded empirically by means of observations (photos, text). The design strives for a contemporary continuation of the historic building structure.
KICK OFF: 07.03.2024, 9h
Weekly appointments: Thursdays 09‒15h
Joint city excursions in Vienna
Group work with regular research presentations
Special dates:
Research presentation: 11.04.2024, 9‒16h
Design workshop: 15‒18.4.2024, all day
Concept presentation: 18.4.2024, 9‒16h
Intermediate critique: 16.5.2024, 09‒19h
Final presentation: 27.06.2024, 9‒19h
