Course General Description

Architecture as a basis of life plays a decisive role within the rapid transformations taking place in society. Thus, the first and foremost tasks of a design studio are to identify the diverse manifestations of our habitat, understand the developments, and create mechanisms and strategies for a responsible future. In this approach “context” is a central concept in the teaching and research activities of the studio, which is investigated and discussed in its many facets. Architecture is conceived as contextually referenced and should attain a responsible propagation of these qualities on the basis of carefully derived principles. Students examine the meaning of the term sustainability in the broadest sense, both in cultural as well as societal terms. The contextual reference comprises diverse scales, the relationship between body and space, the denotations and connotations of tectonic elements and factors, and the urban fabric as well. Furthermore, work is focused on a constant extension and renewal of the notion of architecture in order to develop specific feedback mechanisms on society for regenerative processes.

School General Description

In the heart of Vienna, the capital of the Danube monarchy, the predecessor institution of the current University of Applied Arts, the Imperial Royal Arts and Crafts School, was founded in 1867. It was closely affiliated with the Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry (today the MAK), the first Arts and Crafts museum on the European continent. It was established in 1863 following the example of the South Kensington Museum in London, now the Victoria & Albert Museum, and was to serve as a collection of models for artists, industrialists, and the general public. At the time, early-industrialised England played a pioneer role in supporting a reformed Arts and Crafts movement in order to prevent its decline in the Machine Age. In the spirit of Historicism, the aim was to make it possible, also in Vienna, to study the great styles of the past by example of Arts and Crafts objects in the museum and to set up a place of advanced education for designers and craftsmen with the Arts and Crafts School in Vienna. It should train artists and teachers in equal measure to serve the demands of the art industry.