AIA CONTINENTAL EUROPE VIENNA CONFERENCE
Fiona Mckay
The AIA Continental Europe chapter held their bi-annual meeting/conference in Vienna from 1-4 October and approximately 70 people attended. The conference was excellently organised by CE’s Les Jordan, AIA who said that the London Conference had set a very high bar!
Highlights of the trip included a guided tour of Otto Wagner’s Postsparkasse, a talk and tour of Vienna University that included buildings by Peter Cook, Zaha Hadid, and the surprisingly good lecture building by Laura Spinadel/BUSarchitektur. There were also interesting presentations by 3XN Architects, and by the very talented Thomas Pucher of his eponymous firm.
There was also a walking tour of historic Vienna to give some balance to the modernist weekend. On our free night, Heather and I visited the Spanish Riding School to see a combination concert of the Vienna Boys Choir and a show of the Lipizzaner horses – magic! – While others managed to get tickets to the renowned Vienna opera.
The weekend was friendly and fun. For those that haven’t gone on a CE tour – try one! Upcoming conferences are in Barcelona (Spring ’16) and Cypress (Autumn ’16).
Author: Lester Korzilius AIA RIBA
