I will spare the generalities. Suffice it to say that yes, Vienna is beautiful. Yes, the food is great. Yes, I'm having an amazing time. I could do without the rain.
The first day of class, Tate says in his usual demeanor, "Formulate questions." Then he adds: "Dare to believe all the answers are here." He likens us to sponges, ready to absorb. He draws a dot on a whiteboard. He draws lines above, below, intersecting up and down. "The matrix is as deep as you are thirsty." See. Question. Sketch. Rest. Repeat.
Vienna is not going to be about design, or architecture, or anything so specific. It is a laboratory in everything. Tate presents us with ideas, then challenges us to make connections. I am reminded of the idea of 'gesamkültur', presented by Peter Behrens, the concept of total design. Delete labels, reduce everything to forms, then start over. What is in the essence of something that makes it matter?
We move on. Tate talks about a discussion Adolf Loos had with a colleague about peasant clothing, and how it is symbolic of a resignation to something comfortable and familiar at the risk of being substandard or inadequate. Wal-mart comes to mind. McDonald’s.
Tate concludes the morning session with a homily of sorts. A worm spends his life eating grape leaves. One morning, he wakes up—call it grace—and he is no longer a worm. He is the orchard. He is the grapes. The vines. The trees. The trunks. He is no longer a consumer. The idea of Vienna is not going to be to consume, so much as absorb. J Mays experienced a fin de siècle after he left the U.S. for Germany to work at Audi. There is a different product culture here in Europe. How do we take it to the States? Not even taking over the U.S. product culture, just subversing it a little? There’s just a way of doing things, and it doesn’t have to be the only way. It can be better.
After we get back from lunch, we travel out to Simmering to an art store (warehouse), Boesner. Think Barnes and Noble for art supplies (not Michael's). I buy three sketchbooks. The sketchbook is going to be an important factor in Vienna.
We return to the Tates’ apartment in the city center for a small reception. We are supposed to see Liz Wright at the Rathaus (new town hall), but it’s raining, so no show. We head to the Museumsquartier instead. It is the fifth largest museum complex in the world. I wonder what the top four are. I wonder how the Smithsonian ranks.
We spend time in a bookshop, Prachner. It is fantastic. There are shelves of books on graphic, web, fashion, print, architecture. I make notes in my small sketchbook of things for which to come back. We move on, to a shop called dasmöbel. It is either a cafe where you can buy the furniture, or a shop where you can have coffee on the furniture. Everything is designed. On a rack on the wall hangs several bags. One includes a rubber bathing cap. Another is made of a plastic gas container and a seatbelt.
I love it here.
The first day of class, Tate says in his usual demeanor, "Formulate questions." Then he adds: "Dare to believe all the answers are here." He likens us to sponges, ready to absorb. He draws a dot on a whiteboard. He draws lines above, below, intersecting up and down. "The matrix is as deep as you are thirsty." See. Question. Sketch. Rest. Repeat.
Vienna is not going to be about design, or architecture, or anything so specific. It is a laboratory in everything. Tate presents us with ideas, then challenges us to make connections. I am reminded of the idea of 'gesamkültur', presented by Peter Behrens, the concept of total design. Delete labels, reduce everything to forms, then start over. What is in the essence of something that makes it matter?
We move on. Tate talks about a discussion Adolf Loos had with a colleague about peasant clothing, and how it is symbolic of a resignation to something comfortable and familiar at the risk of being substandard or inadequate. Wal-mart comes to mind. McDonald’s.
Tate concludes the morning session with a homily of sorts. A worm spends his life eating grape leaves. One morning, he wakes up—call it grace—and he is no longer a worm. He is the orchard. He is the grapes. The vines. The trees. The trunks. He is no longer a consumer. The idea of Vienna is not going to be to consume, so much as absorb. J Mays experienced a fin de siècle after he left the U.S. for Germany to work at Audi. There is a different product culture here in Europe. How do we take it to the States? Not even taking over the U.S. product culture, just subversing it a little? There’s just a way of doing things, and it doesn’t have to be the only way. It can be better.
After we get back from lunch, we travel out to Simmering to an art store (warehouse), Boesner. Think Barnes and Noble for art supplies (not Michael's). I buy three sketchbooks. The sketchbook is going to be an important factor in Vienna.
We return to the Tates’ apartment in the city center for a small reception. We are supposed to see Liz Wright at the Rathaus (new town hall), but it’s raining, so no show. We head to the Museumsquartier instead. It is the fifth largest museum complex in the world. I wonder what the top four are. I wonder how the Smithsonian ranks.
We spend time in a bookshop, Prachner. It is fantastic. There are shelves of books on graphic, web, fashion, print, architecture. I make notes in my small sketchbook of things for which to come back. We move on, to a shop called dasmöbel. It is either a cafe where you can buy the furniture, or a shop where you can have coffee on the furniture. Everything is designed. On a rack on the wall hangs several bags. One includes a rubber bathing cap. Another is made of a plastic gas container and a seatbelt.
I love it here.
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