Saturday 20 November 2021

Private matters



Hello dear reader, 
 
This is likely to become a series, since I have come along various private matters recently. 
 
October has been golden and the  city never ceases to surprise me. 
 
 
This housing project caught my eye. It is located in the far East of the city where the City of Vienna ends and Lower Austria begins.   
 
The project has been built 1997-1999. 
 
A boulevard cuts through the neighbourhood. The front doors are decorated.
 
Some of the building lots were originally equipped with concrete walls high enough to provide privacy.

concrete walls provide privacy

Architects hope for lively neighbourhoods when they leave out the concrete walls. They do communicatie, not quite they way intended ...

The metal fence depicts where the original intention (waist-high) fell short of reality.

I like the way the residents communicate from a design point of view.

 

 

The main reason for all the fencing is the need for privacy. But the fences also show the need for originality. More or less.

 

 In 2021 the look across the road offers vastness, fields. The future will tell ...

Speaking of vast fields: these fields are meant to last. Which was by no means sure at all 8 years ago! 

 

I like to dedicate this posting to Christine

Christine is a blogger who lives in London. Her blog is interesting, precious and enjoyable. We share our love for the small things in life. I want to gice something back in return, starting with today's posting. :-)

Have a cozy weekend!

Paula


Sunday 24 May 2020

Hanami

Hello!

The Volksgarten in Vienna has become a fixture over the past years. My focus points alter during the year, from lilacs in early spring to sleeping beauties aka roses in December.

Mid May is the perfect season for some intensive Hanami, flower viewing. The variety is such a pleasure. Vienna never ceases to mesmesrise
 

 The big picture:

Some sweet backlighting ...
Girls feeding their social media accounts. Plus a monumental London plane tree in the background. The trees's trunk has a circumference of 20 ft. The young tree in the foreground gets supported by poles.

After sunset ...
 
Overly sweet and intense impressions get neutralised by soothing grainfields. 
They vast fields awaited me in the outskirts of Vienna.


I hope you had a not too stressful May-season, given the current circumstances.
Paula

Tuesday 14 April 2020

Strolling Around the City Centre

Hello!

What looks like a memory of my student years: Michaelerplatz in the early morning hours after a night out is actually a weekday evening, around 7pm.

This can't be. 

Michaelerplatz. Definitely surreal. Those post apocalyptic movies where ... surprisingly accurate.

Michalerplatz shoud be crowded, people heading home, tourists enjoying the last sunbeams, happy crowds. Happy, because they made it here before the hundreds and thousands of Easter tourists from all over the world arrive in Vienna. Around 7pm shops would be closing their doors - until the next morning. You who has visited the City of Vienna before know the lively heartbeat of the city centre.

The orange paper bag marks shopping with style: Meinl am Graben is a posh supermarket where posh people buy their groeries during the lockdown in Vienna.
Lichtensteg, next to Lugeck.
The bright screen is what is left for the moment: ice cream parlor "Zanoni" at Lugeck
The "Schwarzes Kameel" to the left has endured pest & cholera. It will outlive this lockdown fo sure. The Schwares Kameel dates back to 1618.
Not sure what YSL feared then they cleared the shelves? Broken glass? Dust?
Louis Vuitton (to the left) also cleared the shelves. But the left the lights on.
Wow. What a beauty. The "bazaar" inside the Palais Ferstel at the Freyung.
The impressive Schottenkirche at the Freyung.
At last, some normalcy! Olafur Eliasson's Yellow Fog at Am Hof. Well, it turned cherry blossom pink. I don't mind at all.

PRADA comes with a glimpse of normalcy, too. Offering window shopping at nighttime, including calming blossoms.


Good news: Spring is happening. And it's just beautiful.
Paula