Venue and Events

The main conference takes place in the central building of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (before that of the Vienna University of Technology), which dates back to the middle of the 18th century, and was designed by the court architect Jean Nicolas Jadot, whose ideas were greatly influenced by French and Italian early classicism (more information).

We will meet in the "Alte Aula" on the ground floor with its many columns, for registration, coffee breaks and a simple lunch.

All sessions will be held in the magnificent festive hall on the first floor, in which leading musicians such as Haydn, Beethoven and Schubert performed. A significant event in the Viennese history of music was the performance of Haydn's "Creation" on March 27, 1808, on the occasion of the composer's 76th birthday. The conductor was Antonio Salieri, the director of music at the Imperial Court.

Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)
Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna

The workshops take place at the Vienna University of Technology.

Vienna University of Technology
Favoritenstr. 9-11, 1040 Vienna

Social Dinner

For the social dinner we invite you to the beautiful inner courtyard (‘Säulenhalle’) of the MAK - Museum of Applied Arts, founded in 1864 as the Imperial and Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry - where a contemporary variant of Viennese food will be served.

Before we start dinner, all of you are invited to visit the ‘Wiener Werkstätte’, which is part of the museum’s collection. Founded in Vienna in 1903 by Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, and Fritz Waerndorfer, the Wiener Werkstätte aimed to adapt the formal aspects of everyday commodities to the changed requirements of a new era. While architectural projects were carried out by the Building Office, items for interior decoration were the responsibility of the cabinetmaking, varnishing, and bookbinding departments and the workshops for metalwork and leatherwork. Between 1910 and 1920, the product range was extended by a fashion department, by designs for fabrics and wallpapers, and also by the artists' workshops, in which work was carried out using a wide variety of materials. In 1955 the Werkstätte’s archive was donated to the MAK.

'Heurigen' Visit

Winegrowing in Vienna dates back to the 12th century; in the 16th and 17th centuries it was an important industry. The authentic ‘Heurigen’ is a place where winegrowers sell their own young wines, among them the traditional ‘Grüner Veltliner’ on the farm’s premises. Some Heurigen also offered simple food. Nowadays, you will find a buffet with a fine selection of warm and cold dishes in many places and high quality white and red wine.

We invite you to join us Friday evening at Heurigen Zawodsky, which is one of our favourites, situated in the midst of vineyards and old trees with a beautiful view onto the city. As September evenings can be a bit chilly, bring a warm sweater.

Hiking

Sunday hiking tours with their family is an experience many Viennese children share. September is usually a good time for hiking (when it is no longer so hot, unless it rains) and the Alps are magnificent in the autumn.

The Vienna woods is a huge area to discover with marked paths and numerous eating places, easy to reach by public transport.

The ‘Wiener Hausberge’ - Rax, Semmering, Schneeberg, Schneealpe – can be reached within a little more than an hour by car (a comfortable but longer ride by train and bus). These are ‘real mountains’ for hiking and climbing. Well to-do families used to spend the summer in Semmering and Payerbach-Reichenau, were you find lots of ‘turn of the century’ villas and some old-fashioned hotels. The train track across the Semmering, which was started in 1848, connects Vienna with the South (Kärnten, Steiermark, Trieste, Venezia) and crosses many bridges and tunnels. It is considered an engineering masterpiece of that time.

To those who are interested we offer a guided hiking tour on Saturday, if the weather permits. There are three options: (i) from Gumpoldskirchen to Anninger Schutzhaus, including a visit to one of the traditional Heurigen on the way back (easy); (ii) from Semmering along the ‘Semmering Bahnwanderweg’ to Gloggnitz or Payerbach (long (up to 20 km) but easy); (iii) Rax or Schneeberg (no climbing but some may find it difficult). Please bring good hiking boots, a raincoat, sweater, and a water bottle. It may be cold at 2000 m altitude.

Where to eat in Vienna

We do not want to replace your guidebooks, just indicate places we like and can recommend. Our favourites among the traditional Viennese coffee houses are: Café Tirolerhof (opposite Albertina), Café Prückel (opposite MAK), Café Bräunerhof (in Bräunerstrasse), Café Sperl, and Café Landtmann.

(Fairly priced) good restaurants that serve variants of Viennese ++ cooking are: Salzamt, Zum Rebhuhn, Café Engländer (lots of smokers), Ubl, Schöne Perle, Stomach, more (reservation recommended). You also find small eating places at Naschmarkt, the upgraded old central market, which is popular with tourists and natives (who mostly use it for Saturday grocery shopping).

And of course there are a number of high class restaurants (reservation needed), such as: Steirereck, Korso, fabios, Palmenhaus im Burggarten, Zum schwarzen Kameel. Please consult ‘Wien wie es isst’, an excellent restaurant guide.

What to see in Vienna

‘Best of Vienna’, issued by the critical left-wing city journal ‘Falter’ (only available in German) offers “the most original, funny, useful and very best recommendations around style, stuff, services, fun, and ‘Szene’!”

Vienna has an excellent public transport system of underground (U-Bahn), tram and buses. You can buy a 1 day, 3 days or a ticket for the whole week. It is safe to walk around, also late at night.

Vienna is much more than the ‘Innere Stadt’, with its palaces, museums, ‘Ringstrassen’ buildings and public gardens from the imperial past. Organized around this core are 22 districts, each with their own identity, among them the traditional working class districts Favoriten, Hernals, Meidling, Ottakring, and Simmering. We recommend to visit the area around Brunnenmarkt, the longest street market in Europe, and Yppenplatz (good small restaurants) in the 16th district (Ottakring, take tram no 2).

The so-called ‘Red Vienna’ refers to the building projects of the socialist city government between 1919 and 1933, an era that ended with the civil war (1934), after which the Austro faschists took over. The aim was to provide functional, affordable living quarters for the working class. Well known are Karl Marx-Hof in Heiligenstadt ('one kilometer Art Deco') and the ‘Amalienbad’ in Favoriten, built 1926 as the world’s biggest indoors swimming pool. We recommend to visit Rabenhof in the third district, with its large courtyards, kindergarden, and theatre (take U3 to Kardinal-Nagl Platz).

Nearby is the ‘Wittgensteinhaus’, designed by Ludwig Wittgenstein for his sister (visits by appointment).

If you want to visit the icons of ‘Jugendstil Vienna’ built by Adolf Loos or Otto Wagner, there are special guided tours. In order to get to know ‘Jewish Vienna’ you may want to start in the Jewish Museum or take a guided tour.

If you have time and the weather is nice, take U1 to Donauinsel, an immensely popular area for walking, biking, scate boarding, swimming, with some eating places. You may want to continue to the area ‘Alte Donau’, with its small summer houses and good swimming - go to the ‘Arbeiterstrandband’ and ‘Gänsehäufel’ (by bus) - to get an impression of the Viennese bathing culture.

Cultural Events

In September the theatre season starts. Theatre performances are generally in German. Consult the webpage of the Burgtheater.

Wiener Staatsoper and Musikvereinssaal start the season beginning of September. We recommend to also consult the webpages of Konzerthaus and Schönberg Centre.

We also recommend the festival marking the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn. The Internationale Haydn-Tage from 9.-27.9.2009 offer concerts with Ton Koopman, Jordi Savall, Christophe Rousset, Sir Colin Davis, the Freiburger Barockorchester, Adam Fischer, and others. Tickets. We particularly encourage you to visit the exhibition Haydn explosiv shown in Schloss Esterházy, Eisenstadt, Burgenland.

News

Podcast of the discussion paper by Kjeld Schmidt and the open debate

Workshops: September 7-8, 2009

Welcome Reception: September 8, 2009
Strandbar Herrmann

Conference: September 9-11, 2009

Supplementary Proceedings of Workshops and Master Classes

Supplementary Proceedings of Demos, Videos and Posters

Supplementary Proceedings of Doctoral Colloquium


with the support of



The conference is affiliated with the European Society of Socially Embedded Technologies (EUSSET).




Sponsored by Wissenschafts-und Forschungsförderungsabteilung der Stadt Wien/MA7