Today begins with followup to yesterday.
After Kevan and I present briefly to the group our experience with Erwin Bauer, Tate instructs Naomi to go up to the whiteboard at the front of the room. “Draw every dance you saw last night,” he says. At first Naomi is a little overwhelmed. But then, sure enough, she starts. She makes a stick figure of the very first sequence, a man using stilts of some sort to move across a beam used for support during rehabilitation.
Someone chimes in: “The one where they had their legs tied together like a three-legged race!”
Another: “The one where she’s on the harness and she’s walking across people’s hands!”
This goes on for about twenty minutes. When we think we are finished, Tate thanks Naomi and she sits. “Let’s get a picture of this board.”
all the movements we could think of.
It is impressive to look at. “I’ve never seen anyone move like that,” Tate says. I think we tend to agree.
The subject today is Hans Hollein, a modern Austrian architect who helped to get Vienna to crack open and let modern architecture happen. Perhaps his most visible mark in Vienna is the Haas House, which offers stark contrast to the old medieval architecture of Stephansdom in the middle of the plaza. He also designed a plaza around a Roman ruin in Michaelerplatz near the Hapsburg Palace, among many shops and interiors in the city. He takes risks, and that is why I think Tate likes him.
After class, we go on a little Hollein walk. We see his shops on the Graben, a brilliant shop for a world-renowned lighting company, some other storefronts, the Haas House, the Roman ruins in the Michaelerplatz. One of the best things about studying here is learning about something and seeing slides of it in class, then going out the next minute and seeing the thing face to face. The best example is the State Opera House. “Rarely,” said Tate on the first day, “will I show you a slide in class, and you’ll be able to see the thing out the window at the same time. Actually, I think never.”
When we finish our Hollein walk, we go to Zanoni & Zanoni, an Italian-style gelateria. Tate makes sure we all order from this one guy. “Watch how he works,” he says. So, we all line up and order from him, ignoring the other people working there. The man has a silly sort of carefree attitude about his work. The way his hands move and scoop even has a bit of humour to it. When I get up to him, I order in Italian. He appreciates it. I turn around to find Tate looking at me with a wide grin on his face. “Good job,” he says.
We make our way across the Ring to the Museumsquartier. We go to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) and go straight to one area: the Bruegel room. One painting catches my eye. It depicts a town being invaded by an army on horseback, with soldiers pillaging and buildings being set aflame. There is so much going on. It is reminiscent of the dance last night.
We are slated to go to the Leopold Museum afterwards, but we are exhausted, so we break for the day.
After Kevan and I present briefly to the group our experience with Erwin Bauer, Tate instructs Naomi to go up to the whiteboard at the front of the room. “Draw every dance you saw last night,” he says. At first Naomi is a little overwhelmed. But then, sure enough, she starts. She makes a stick figure of the very first sequence, a man using stilts of some sort to move across a beam used for support during rehabilitation.
Someone chimes in: “The one where they had their legs tied together like a three-legged race!”
Another: “The one where she’s on the harness and she’s walking across people’s hands!”
This goes on for about twenty minutes. When we think we are finished, Tate thanks Naomi and she sits. “Let’s get a picture of this board.”
all the movements we could think of.
It is impressive to look at. “I’ve never seen anyone move like that,” Tate says. I think we tend to agree.
The subject today is Hans Hollein, a modern Austrian architect who helped to get Vienna to crack open and let modern architecture happen. Perhaps his most visible mark in Vienna is the Haas House, which offers stark contrast to the old medieval architecture of Stephansdom in the middle of the plaza. He also designed a plaza around a Roman ruin in Michaelerplatz near the Hapsburg Palace, among many shops and interiors in the city. He takes risks, and that is why I think Tate likes him.
After class, we go on a little Hollein walk. We see his shops on the Graben, a brilliant shop for a world-renowned lighting company, some other storefronts, the Haas House, the Roman ruins in the Michaelerplatz. One of the best things about studying here is learning about something and seeing slides of it in class, then going out the next minute and seeing the thing face to face. The best example is the State Opera House. “Rarely,” said Tate on the first day, “will I show you a slide in class, and you’ll be able to see the thing out the window at the same time. Actually, I think never.”
When we finish our Hollein walk, we go to Zanoni & Zanoni, an Italian-style gelateria. Tate makes sure we all order from this one guy. “Watch how he works,” he says. So, we all line up and order from him, ignoring the other people working there. The man has a silly sort of carefree attitude about his work. The way his hands move and scoop even has a bit of humour to it. When I get up to him, I order in Italian. He appreciates it. I turn around to find Tate looking at me with a wide grin on his face. “Good job,” he says.
We make our way across the Ring to the Museumsquartier. We go to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) and go straight to one area: the Bruegel room. One painting catches my eye. It depicts a town being invaded by an army on horseback, with soldiers pillaging and buildings being set aflame. There is so much going on. It is reminiscent of the dance last night.
We are slated to go to the Leopold Museum afterwards, but we are exhausted, so we break for the day.
Comments