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Vienna Ugly: Walking Tour

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Posted by Eugene Quinn - Last updated on 10-03-2015

A surreal celebration of some ideas which never should have left the architectural studio.

Everyone knows Vienna is beautiful. But we want to take you to the dark side, and explore some very ugly mistakes.

 

2015 is officially the year of walking in Vienna, and we'd like to get more locals exploring their own city from an new perspective. A tour of beautiful palaces would not interest them, but this does. There is a great fascination with death and melancholy in Vienna, and this tour connects with that Ulrich Seidl mood.

 

With Eurovision coming to town, we are preparing for all that kitsch bad taste, with an architectural preview of ugly Vienna. And because walking groups can themselves be ugly in a city, we will try a little group choreography to entertain watchers.

 

We think the media will be fascinated, and start some useful debates. The groups will be asked to vote and we will produce a top 10 ugliest buildings in the city countdown. Through humour, we want to make some serious points about the role of the media, city planners, fashion, gentrification, postmodernism, UNESCO and greedy developers.

 

In the spirit of Conchita, we want to transgress, and surprise people. The cliches of Sisi and Schnitzel are boring, so we want to show there is another Vienna, which is more creative, humorous, contemporary and adventurous. This is one of the cities with the biggest gap between its fantasy and reality. Vienna is a lot more interesting than its reputation.

 

Which buildings will we look at? You have to come on the tour to find out. We will include old and new stuff. Some structures are both beautiful and ugly. Only through ugliness can we discover true beauty, and the two have an interesting relationship in Vienna.

 

Current tours of Vienna focus on the old city. We need new stories to tell. After this tour, we will ask the whole group to join us in an ugly bar, to continue the debate.

Comments

  1. Bonnie Lewtas Bonnie Lewtas

    Hi Eugene, I love the concept of local tours with such a unique perspective. I think this idea would be strengthened if you made the connection to flightless travel more clear. For example, including alternative methods of transportation to Vienna from key European cities, or how the tours contribute to regional/domestic tourism :-)