The end

Friday 29th June was the final presentation for the Urban Ontology design course. Hélio and I were working together to produce an urban masterplan for Valletta. Our proposal was a coastal promenade with various nodes of activity along its path to encourage a more distributed pedestrian flow, generate new business and promote urban regeneration.

Our first presentation sheet showing analysis of the existing situation with proposed interventions

along with diagrams to explain the overall concept of our scheme for Valletta

Working in collaboration with Hélio (from Lisbon, Portugal) was a great experience. We had a good working relationship as Hélio was happy to work at my apartment where we could also play music, cook food and go for a drink afterwards. In the end we were able to play on each other’s strengths to produce a really good presentation.

As architecture students we constantly had to remind ourselves to work at an 'urban scale' and not

venture into too much detail. We did however develop a more focused strategy for one area along

the promenade as an example of our vision

I believe the presentation went well, or at least the lectures liked the sheets, as Mark Gilbert later spoke to me about my Photoshop work saying “we could use someone like you, are you staying in Vienna?”. At that moment I was very torn; I had fallen in love with the city, the weather was great, and I had a beautiful woman, friends and so many memories still in Vienna. My reply however was instantaneous; I had a job and a whole other life waiting for me in England, I could not abandon everything, let people down and throw away my integrity. C'est la vie!

We built this city

Wednesday the 20th June was the final hand-in for ‘The Mediterranean City’ design course by Will Alsop. For the course we were organised into small groups representing different ministries. Ana Sofia, Enrique and I were the Ministry of Education and had to make a proposal for the education structure and facilities in a city with a density of 80,000 people per sq. km. Alsop asked all of the ministries to create a name for the city and contribute towards a brochure as a final submission. The chosen name was Alsopia.

Alsopia Brochure

'District ESA' Masterplan

The Story we decided for the origin of Alsopia:

Long ago the ancient Mayans predicted the end of the world in the year 2012. But the world did not end. Instead, disaster and horror was spread upon mankind. It is said that a viral experiment that was going to advance and improve the future of all people went terribly wrong, and all natural resources were contaminated in most of the earth’s climate areas. In the struggle for survival, people fled their homes in search for new ones. Others died immediately after the outbreak of the virus and did not have to witness the chaos and brutality that shook the world. When the earth turned against man, man turned against himself in constant battle for resources, where only the strongest could survive. Cities were abandoned, countries became voids. 

But it was not long until hope was born again.

40 years after the accident it was discovered that the resources around the Mediterranean climate turned out to be mysteriously unpolluted. Some say it had to do with a natural antidote in the vegetation that yet somehow could not be detected. Others say it was a strike of sheer luck. 

As hope flourished, so did man’s humbleness. The people organized around the Mediterranean climate zones and made plans for a new society where peace prevailed and resources belonged to everybody. A small group of people started what came to be known as the beginning of the New Era. It is said that among this group of people, a couple of great minds based their ideas on theoretical work they once had done under the guidance of a British architect and professor named Alsop. A city was built along the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, with provinces along the whole Mediterranean climate zone. It was named Alsopia. 

Much that once was and should not have been forgotten is now lost. Hundreds of years passed, and history became legend. Legend became myth. Though none have lived to remember the beginning, this is the story about Alsopia as we know it today.

Will Alsop and the 'Alsopians'

A few days later, a big group of us met to celebrate at the Donauinselfest (an annual open-air music festival) and thereafter have a few drinks at Charlie P’s.

Alsopian after-party

What a wonderful world

On Sunday 10^th of June Pelin, Ece, Şefkat, Burak, Ali, Fabian and I took a day trip to Hallstatt, a small village in Upper Austria. It was a four hour drive in Fabian’s camper van from Vienna and the day was gloomy and wet but the visit was definitely worth it. The only disappointment was when my camera battery died shortly after arriving.

Hallstatt

Me, Şefkat, Pelin, Fabian and Ece

Şefkat and I

I want to break free

Very sound advice

One week

On Wednesday 23^rd Kiran, a friend from England arrived in Vienna. A few days before he came, I kindly composed a teaser poster to get him psyched up for his visit.

Kiran arrived in the evening so we dropped off his bags at my apartment and went to Travel Shack to meet the guys. Whilst waiting for the pool table a fairly drunk Austrian girl popped up beside me and mumbled something in German. “Sprichst du Englisch” I instinctively replied. “Yes… well no, not very, where are you from?” she asked. “England” I said, “Oh so it’s true!”, “What’s true?” (no answer) ”Can I give you my sister, she wants you?” she said next (very good English indeed), gesturing over to a less drunk, but far more embarrassed looking girl at another table. I smiled and replied that her sister should have come over herself and that I was here to play pool with my friends. I’m still curious what was “true” about the English.

Arriving home I got to work editing some film Şefkat had helped me shoot earlier for a project due in the next morning – I shouldn’t have procrastinated, but I didn’t compromise on quality and even had 1 hour left to sleep!

Still from the film project which had to include a transportation effect

Obviously architects use this all the time

On Thursday morning Kiran came with me to a Diagrammatische und Hybride Entwurfsmethoden lecture (film editing class) and that night went to Prater Dome. The next day we joined a BBQ at Donauinsel and went for a swim in the river before rushing home early to prepare food for a dinner night I was hosting.

Donauinsel BBQ

I cooked cottage pie with vegetables and gravy. It was a very difficult task to prepare the meal for 12 people with only two hobs and a microwave so the food was ready an hour later than I had initially promised. I had never before made cottage pie – or anything similar – but the result was edible and more importantly everyone had a good time! After the dinner we went on to Gasobar where Kiran and I formed an unbeatable team at pool.

Kiran, Marco and Federico at my English dinner party

On Saturday 26th Kiran, Mỹ-Lan and I went to Heldenplatz to attend the solidarity rally for Tibet and see the Dalai Lama who is travelling around Europe to create awareness for the situation in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama at the Solidarity Rally for Tibet

That night we went to a fancy dress party in the Molkereistraße party room organised by some Spanish students. The party was very boring so we decided to go to Dick Mack’s Irish pub at Schwedenplatz for a foosball tournament with Kiran and Federico against Guillaume and I. The next day I took Kiran around the city center to see the tourist sights of Vienna. In the evening we went out in a group but gradually lost each other at different clubs and pubs until it was just Kiran, Loïc and I in a bar.

Stephansdom transformed by coloured canvas covering the windows

On Monday 28^th Kiran and I visited the Hundertwasserhaus, an expressionist landmark and working residential building in the Landstraße district. We then went to the Schloß Schönbrunn and dragged ourselves around the large landscaped gardens. That night we decided to give ourselves an easy night and went to the Salm Bräu restaurant (very recommendable) in the Belvedere vicinity with Fabian.

Hundertwasserhaus

Tuesday 29^th was Kiran’s last day in Vienna. We left in the morning to get to the City Airport Train at Wien Mitte. Unfortunately we forgot to get a U-Bahn ticket for Kiran (€2 for a single journey) and got checked by the ticket men. They issued a fine of €100 Euros - not likely to be paid by a student leaving the country that day – hopefully Kiran enjoyed his first and last visit to Austria!

You can leave your hat on

On Thursday 17^th Bas, a Dutch Erasmus student, held a “22.5” Birthday party in the theme of ‘Pimps and Hoes’. Federico and I realised it there was a theme at the last moment, so our pimp customs were extremely improvised, unfortunately we forgot to take photos. The next day we found ourselves dressing up again for another party; everyone must wear a hat!

Not having a hat at the ready, I employed my architectural model making skills and fashioned myself a rather trendy top hat from a few empty cereal boxes.

Poisoned Vodka Jelly

On Saturday 19^th I met with Stéphanie and Tiphaine in Museums Quartier for a couple of drinks. The girls ordered their beers and were initially surprised when I asked for just a coke, reaching into my jacket I brought out a bottle of whisky in explanation – I’m a poor student after all (and whiskey is very expensive from the bars here).

Museumsquartier (MQ)

Ich lieg gern im Gras

On Wednesday 9^th I had an exam for ‘Ökologie und nachhaltige Entwicklung’ (Ecology and Sustainable Development). Despite being associated with Architecture on the online course system, the lessons had almost nothing of relevance to architecture; one of the exam questions even asked for the equation for respiration! Later that evening a group of us met up at flex café for a few drinks by the Donaukanal. With the temperature now warmer in the evenings, it was great to sit outside, have a few drinks and chat to new people. Şefkat had a friend to visit from Istanbul and Chris (the Greek) had Patra from Athens. Having lived with a girl from Athens last year, I took the opportunity to show my (very limited) knowledge of Greek.

There is a running joke amongst the Italians that I only know the ‘bad’ words and phrases (they encourage it and I indulge them). Unfortunately for Greek, this is actually true – but I see a positive side – boring things like “how are you” don’t get any laughs. Rule; if you’re only going to learn a few things in a language, make them interesting!

Patra, Me, Epic Photo-bomb Guy

On Thursday night we went to Prater Dome as usual, and then went to Wiener Prater public park to relax and eat a sandwich. The next day was the long planned beer-drinking contest on the Donauinsel. We arrived midday, and with a bit of luck, found an empty public barbeque by the river; these can be reserved online, or you can find one not being used and hope nobody has reserved it – alternatively there are designated ‘grillzones’ where you can make your own fire. It was great to chill in the sun and then dip into the Donaukanal for a swim to cool off - definitely something to do more often.

Fabian, Guillaume, Michel, Pelin, Xavier