Space à La Suisse
Times have changed since the frenzy of the Space Race half a century ago. Triggered by the surprise success of the USSR’s Sputnik 1, the world’s first artificial satellite launched on 4 October 1957, the United States and the Soviet Union became obsessed with space travel. And for the duration of the Cold War, the [...]
Cycle City Vienna: Planning and Paving the Way
“We want to make our city a better place to live in and bikes can play a key role,” says Alec Hager of the Vienna Cycle Lobby. Green in an era of smog and climate change, healthy in an era of obesity, and economic in an age of austerity, a vibrant cycling culture can [...]
Raiffeisen’s Upward Sustainability
The new Raiffeisen tower, which opened last month on the Donaukanal, is now part of the ever-changing Danube riverscape. The building, shaped like the prow of a ship, points into the gentle curve of the canal, as if about to set sail. Vienna’s relationship with the Danube (and its meanderings) has a turbulent history. In [...]
When Immigrants Were Welcome
Since anyone can remember, residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s capital Sarajevo have been feeding the pigeons that swarmed the city’s central market Bascarsija. It didn’t matter to the hungry birds whose hands – Muslim, Croat, Serb, Roma or Jewish – dispensed the corn and bread in this multi-ethnic city. What mattered were the crumbs, and [...]
Authentic Asian Dining in Vienna: Oh, Holy Basil!
This business of authenticity can be very elusive. Enticing the Viennese to compose their own dishes from the elements, as the Thais do, leaves many diners perplexed. But several young ventures in Asian cooking are now serving up successes with traditional tastes and techniques of the Far East, and setting in motion a new trend [...]
An Austrian Mixologist Takes D.C.
The arts of Austrian gastronomy are unfamiliar to much of the wider world. Its cuisine and spirits are known mostly among connoisseurs, while its restaurants sprout gracefully from a wistful past that ignores faddish whims. But Austrian gastronomes – born with an epicurean fervor that courses through family veins – have flung this finesse to [...]
Craftsmanship and Culture: Loos, Wittgenstein and Schönberg
The Looshaus in Vienna’s 1st District is the setting for a monthly series of talks and music entitled Dem Ton ein Wort, (A Word on Sound) addressing the word and ideas of the leading “craftsmen of modernism” Alfred Loos, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Arnold Schönberg, and including chamber music performed by some of Vienna’s musicians adds [...]
Saskia Sassen at Schloss Dürnstein
Schloss Dürnstein, set high above the Danube on one of the most beautiful sections of the Wachau valley, seems like an ironically idyllic place to discuss the overthrow of the global political system. Well, not “overthrow” exactly: Dutch-American sociologist Saskia Sassen has decided that it’s time to re-examine how the world’s people see their roles [...]
Something New’s Brewing in Vienna’s Pubs
Scan the emblems on taps in a Vienna bar, and you’re likely to see the usual beer spectrum: Stiegl, Gösser, Wieselburger and Ottakringer. In a city known for wine Heurige, the hoppy alternative seems reduced to a choice between the red one, the green one, the blue one or the yellow one. Yet, a look [...]
