Sunday 9 December 2018

Modern Architecture


Germany

Cityscape (1) with "Machines for living in"

Cityscape (2) with "Machines for Living in"

China

South Africa

Alaska

Cityscape (3) with "Machines for Living in"

Cityscape (4) with "Machines for living in"

"A house is a machine for living in"

Sagmeister & Walsh: Beauty: MAK Vienna (until 31 March 2019)

12 comments:

  1. Can't say that modern architecture does anthing for me Gwil. I couldnt live anywhere without an outside space. Cities have so much to offer but I couldn't live in one. I think I am a county mouse more than a city mouse.

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    1. Thanks Dave. Local councils tried them out in the 60s and 70s. But by the 90s they were knocking them down. Why should it work now? Better lifts and lighting and no asbestos? Transport connections? Cycleways? Green areas? Are they safe at night? Depends on the will of the community and the quality of nearby facilities I suppose. I don't think you're a country mouse at all. Personally I like compact cities where everything I need is within easy travelling or walking distance. I would never live in London, Birmingham or Manchester. I could live in Dublin, Edinburgh and Cardiff.

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    2. I would say ten or twenty miles from the city would be ideal for public transport, work, museums and lots and lots of concerts. My friend in Warsaw is always going to see some great band. See Luxembourg is making all its public transport free. Fantastic idea.

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    3. I'm situated between the city and the countryside. There's a tram station to the city centre I can walk to in a few minutes. The ride into the centre is 30 minutes on average. Everything I like - concert venues, theaters, galleries, museums, cinemas, bookstores etc., within easy reach. (5 - 30 mins) Vienna city centre is very compact. My annual tram,bus,u-bahn,s-bahn ticket works out less than €1 per day.
      Luxembourg should make it free. It's EU's richest country by a mile.

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    4. What are the job prospects like in Vienna? Lots of people in West Cork commute by car and bus to Cork every day. Sounds like you are in a great location Gwil.

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    5. In winter there are jobs available in the skiing regions for hotel, restaurant and bar staff. I'm not sure about Vienna.

      To get a job in Austria it's an advantage to be a German speaker.

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  2. __ Ah, such differences of need and interest, so variable within all thoughts and investments to our imagination; neither view should be condemned... but to either, we can unite... to suit our ease of adventure and curiosity. Often, silence and ease are the parents of an escapade.

    silent cabin
    a fresh log on the fire
    this old book

    _m

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  3. I believe age makes such a difference in appreciation. Youngsters want to be in the middle of it all, and often make their lifestyle fit children. Those only last twenty or so years; it may be possible to grow old in the sterile surroundings that house all that is good. Or perhaps have been part of the force that removed the old and grew the new. I am not qualified to say.

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    1. Who knows what the future holds? I think we are all not qualified to say, Joanne. I look at those Hollywood stars and starlets who thought they had it made - a villa with a swimming pool in Malibu - and then came the bitter flames of truth.

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  4. These remind me of some of my art. I have a fascination for drawing skyscrapers .

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    1. Ah, but would you like to live in one?

      Me? Not any higher than I can get when the lift's out of order. There are often fires even here in Vienna. Only the other day there was a gas explosion in one. You can't believe what people get up to in these apartments. Yesterday, a trivial but not unusual case, two men were taken to hospital after trying to grill meat on a gas barbecue due to a gas leak from a gas cylinder they'd attached wrongly. Then there's the loud music and the domestic quarrels and the various cooking smells and people leaving their rubbish in the corridors . . . the list of snags is endless. I'd say up to 5 or 6 stories is ok. Then you can hang out your washing Italian style.

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