VWW: ARCHI MOMENTS - RENAISSANCE & NEO-RENAISSANCE

Renaissance is a French word for a Tuscan/Italian moment in art, architecture, and even music. It is seriously stylish and beautiful. We will look at how the Viennese adapted this movement, between the 15th and 16th Century, and made it their own. And then revived it after 1860.

Sadly, much of these buildings have not survived changing taste, but we have enough to make a fine tour. And in fact the concept of conservation is modern - which is ironic. People used to have little sense of the worth of older architecture, preferring progress and modernity.

A Renaissance artist is somebody who thinks in interdisciplinary ways, free of niche subjects, adventurous and curious.

To quote one of the most famous characters of post-war Vienna cinema:

“In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed – they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo do Vinci & the Renaissance. In Switzland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy & peace & what did that produce?…....The Cuckoo clock”.

Harry Lime (Orson Wells), Third Man

Your guide, Eugene, is a huge fan of Italy, for its language, charisma, beauty, food, wine, music, art, cinema, comedy, style, social life and rituals, and of course its architecture. He teaches sometimes in the Spatial-planning Dept of Vienna's Technical University.

Renaissance is not what Vienna is famous for (Whoosh tries to avoid cliches), and yet so many of our iconic built environment is Neo-renaissance: MAK, parts of Hofburg, Opera, Palais Ferstel, Palais Hansen, Spanish Riding School stables, Old Rathaus, Schloss Neugebäude, University of Vienna, Hotel Imperial, Kursalon, Art History Museum, Hotel Imperial and the Boerse. These buildings are often referred to as Historicist.

This architecture tour follows our focus on Baroque in 2023, Jugendstil in 2024, Mid-century Modern in 2025, and of course our Vienna Ugly tour of the worst buildings in a beautiful city.

Next year we will look at art deco.

Vienna Walking Week shows you that there is no need to leave the city in summer, to get all those good feelings of being somewhere new and exciting.