Getting around... Vienna

Vienna, is by far the largest city in Austria with 1,76 million inhabitants and over 2.5 million in the total urban area. It is located on the edge of the country on higher ground by the river Wien, not far from the Danube. To understand the historic importance of this city we only need to look at the old maps of central Europe; Vienna is then at the heart of the vast Austro-Hungarian Empire.

As befits a large capital city Vienna offers many modes of transport including a far-reaching network of public transport that include an undergrond railway (U-bahn), trams, suburban railway (S-Bahn), busses and local commuter railways (Lokalbahn). There are 6 metro lines, 8 suburban lines and some 20 tramlines that serve the metropolis.

suburban train         the U2 encircles the old city                 tram

Kaiserforum Vienna: crowning the emblematic Ringstraße

The Ringstraße, that with the Franz-Josef-Kai encircles the historic centre of Vienna, is one of the main tourist attractions of the city. This is no coincidence as this was part of the purpose this ceremonial belt road was designed for. Built on the former Glacis after the fortifications were dismantled between 1857 and '65 the Ringstraße was to be the focus of the newly modernised Vienna as a broad boulevard lined with trees and many representative buildings along it. The crowning glory was to be the Kaiserforum. The ideas for a new culltural forum were part of the planning from the beginning and were modelled after Albertopolis (1851-1907) in London.

The Kaiserforum within the context of the Ringstraße was to be an extension of the Hofburg palace towards the Hofstallungen as a large open space

The Kaiserforum is basically a large square at a right angle to the Ringstraße with several large buildings around it. The complex was designed by Gottfried Semper who also came up with the name. This Imperial Forum off course is an illusion to the classical Forum of Roman times. Sempers plans involved creating a formal space surrounded by a symmetrical ensemble of buildings. For this to work, the Hofburg Palace had to be given a new front facade as this building complex was little more than a collection of wings around courtyards in various styles. A new building tract would serve as a symmetrical facade with two new wings framing the open space north of the Ringstraße. On the southside the Hofstallungen (Royal Stables) designed by the baroque architect Fisher von Erlach would form the backdrop to the ensemble with two new wings on either side to frame the large square. A triumphal arch was also part of the design and marked the end of the northern square on the Ringstraße.

Work started on the remodelling of the stables to make them suitable for housing the imperial collection of paintings. This work was completed around 1865. In 1870 emperor Franz Joseph gave the go-ahead for the whole project and work started on the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) and the Naturhistorisches Museum (Museum of Naturel History). This part of the Kaiserforum was finally completed in 1891. The rest of the large-scale cultural forum was also slow to be realised.

In 1913 the southern wing of the so-called Neue Burg (New Palace) was completed. The long time between completion and planning was partly due to the enormous costs involved, but it was also problematic to find a functional use for the vast buildings. The northern wing - the mirror image of the southern wing- was never built because of the outbreak of WWI and the subsequent foundation of the first Austrian Republic in 1918. The end of the monarchy also meant the end of royal patronage and thus the end of the Imperial Forum.  

The Kaiserforum now comprises of the Hofburg (H), the Hofstallungen (S), The Musuem of Art History (A), the Mueseum of Natural History (N), The Triumphal Arch (T) and the southwing of the Neue Burg (B). To the side ly the Volksgarten (V) with the Thetis temple and the Burggarten (B).

Recently plans have been put forward to complete the scheme as was intended by adding the northern wing on the Heldenplatz. This would definitely improve the space of the Forum itself, but also better define the Volksgarten, one of the parks that serve as wings to the cultural forum and thus embed the scheme within the Ringstraße.

Splendid Streets: Maxvorstadt Munich

Munich was founded near a monastery and named after these monks (apud Munichen). The city is first mention in 1158 when Henry the Lion Duke of Saxony and Bavaria grants the right to hold a market near the Isarbridge on the Salzstrasse (Salt Street) between Salzburg and Augsburg. Later the city was fortified and subsequently enlarged and again fortified. At the end of the 18th century the defences were decommissioned and torn town. This made it possible to expand the old city.

The Maxvorstadt comprises of a grid type urban extension that was to double the urban area of Munich. The scheme took several decades to complete. In the meantime several other suburbs (the literal translations of Vorstadt) were developed: Ludwigsvorstadt, Isarvorstadt, Schwanthalerhöhe and Haidhausen on the other side of the Isar.

The Maxvorstadt was planned between 1805 and 1810 on the instigation of the first Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph, after whom the area was named. It was projected over a large flat area northwest of the old city between the old routes to the Marsfeld (a Military exercise ground), Nymphenburg Palace, Dachau, Schleissheim Palace and Freising. These old routes were formalised as straight streets within a grid layout.  The aim was to create a formal expansion that would serve as a beautiful addition to the medieval Altstadt.   

The old fortified city was surrounded by a wide moat that was fed by several brooks. The Mushroom shape is very distinct and came to be after the second large expansion of the city in the fourteenth century which was mostly located on the higher ground behind the older city.

The Briener Strasse would serve as the central axis of the new suburb connecting the road to Dachau and Schleissheim with a rotunda to the new entrance gate (1812) to the Hofgarten (Palace Gardens) behind the Münchener Residenz (Residential Palace). Along this route several formal ensembles were erected around several squares. The Königsplatz (Kings Square) on this axis was created as the centre of a new cultural hub, not unlike Albertopolis in London, the Kaiserforum in Vienna, the Forum Fredericianum in Berlin and the Royal Forum in Brussels. The queer axis starts at the Kaffeehaus in the Alter Botanischer Garten (1814) and ends at the gates of the Alter Nördlicher Friedhof (1866). The Maxvorstadt connects to the old city via a wide boulevard (Sonnenstrasse - 1812) and the Maximiliansplatz (1808), a long garden square that is part of this green boulevard. The boulevard stretches from the Sendlinger Tor, where a large square was created on the site of a former bulwark, to the Briener Strasse. A secondary axis links this garden square with the main axis of the Maxvorstadt at the Obelisk (1833).

Although the main focus was on the Maxvorstadt In the Southwest a second axial ensemble was created between the Sendlinger Tor (a former city gate) and a new general hospital (Algemeinen Krankenhaus - 1813) across a formal park. A third ensemble was created north of the city to separate the Maxvorstadt from the Englischer Garten. and tie the residential palace into the new scheme. It consists of a long axis, a so-called Prachtstrasse (literally: Splendid Street), that starts by the palace at the Feldherrnhalle (1844) next to the Palais Prysing (1728) and runs at a slightly different angle than the grid of the Maxvorstadt. Across from the Hofgarten a second ensemble was created consisting of the Odeonsplatz. The axis ended at the Siegestor (1852) a triumphal arch modelled after Marble arch. Before this the street widens to a square with the university buildings around it. Next to the Siegestor on a queer axis the Akademie der Bildende Künste (Academie of Fine Arts - 1808) was built.

Three axial ensembles connect to the quarter belt road (A) that links up to the Old Botanical Gardens (B) and the Maxplatz (C). The starting point is the Sendlinger Tor (1) from where an axis leads to the General Hospital (2). The culmination of the scheme is the Residenz with the Hofgarten (D).At the Hofgartentor (1) starts the central axis of the Maxvorstadt (in red). Next to this "Splendid Street" lies the Wittelsbacherplatz (2) with an Equestrian statue and flanked by the Odeon (1828), the Palais Ludwig-Ferdinand (1826) and the Palais Arco-Zinneberg (1820). The axis proceeds to meet the Obelisk (3) and beyond to the Königsplatz with the Glyptothek (4 - 1833), the Antikensammlungen (5 - 1848) and the Propylaea (6 - 1862), to end at a rotunda (7) on the Dachauerstrasse. The queer axis starts at the Kaffehaus (8), runs along the Königsplatz to the Alte Pinakothek (9 - 1836) and Neue Pinakothek (1853) to end at the gatehouses of the Northern Cemetery (10 - 1866) and served effectively as the backbone to the development of the Kunstareal. The third axis (in orange) was also meant as a "Splendid Street" lined with official and representative buildings. The axis of the Ludwigstrasse starts at the Feldherrnhalle (1) along the Odeonsplatz (2) with the Odeon, the Palais Ludwig-Ferdinand and the Palais Leuchtenberg (1821). The Hofgartengalerie (3 - 1853) stands opposite. The street was lined with ministerial building and civic buildings like the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State-Library) completed in 1839 (6). The splendid street crosses the Ludwigsforum (4) with on its westside the main building of the Ludwig-Maximilian University (1835) and on the westside the Georgianum (1840) and the Veterinary Institute (1840s) to end at the Siegestor (5). Next to this triumphal arch stand the Academy of fine Arts (7).

Getting around... Munich

As the capital and largest city of the state of Bavaria, Munich relies on many modes of transport to keep the city running. Private cars are abundant and traffic grinds to a halt at least twice daily - as I know from experience. With some 1.55 million people living within the city limits and a further 2 million beyond the city relies on a number of modes of transport, all very commonplace in large urban centres. Getting around Großstadt München is complicated by the fact that the city stretches across rivers like the Isar and Würm and several brooks and canals. This means that there are many bridges that are potential bottlenecks for road traffic. Luckily Munich also has a very extensive public transport network.

The backbone of public transport is the Schnellnetz of S-Bahn and U-Bahn. This rapid transport network comprises of both over ground suburban railway (S-Bahn) with 8 lines and an underground railway (U-Bahn) with 6 lines. These modes of transport take you throughout the Bavarian metropolis and have excellent connections to the busses and trams of local transport and trains for long distance travel.

Bus                               Tram                             S-Bahn (train)

The underground (or U-Bahn) runs throughout the city...

Südseite Obersendling: new green in an urban envelope

Located near the river Isar, on both sides of the railway and with views of the Alps beyond, this former employment area ticked all the boxes for residential redevelopment. The commuter station Siemenswerke is now at the heart of the new urban quarter of Südseite. Along the railway the area presents itself with long slabs of apartment blocks with apartment towers behind.

Once you leave the S-Bahn station the new urban quarter opens up, revealing an urban park on the westside and communal gardens on the eastside.

Although a high-density redevelopment, as is usual in Munich, Südseite feels spacious and green as a result of a conscious placement of the apartment towers in a sea of enveloping greenery within a clear boundary of housing. The architecture is modern and of the moment, but without being gimmicky or using design elements for the sake of it.

The apartment complexes around the towers (left) have been kept simple in design and echo the treatment of the earlier apartment slabs (right). The last phase has been treated in a more urban fashion with long facades in comparison to the earlier buildings which are more segmented.

Beyond the similarly white housing of the second and third phase stand the colourful building of the first building phase. These apartment building are long slabs set in communal greenery. The colours are quite typical for such Zeilenbauten with pastel shades of yellow, green, blue and red.

In phase 3 (left)and phase 2(right) the architecture is based on simple facades in simple volumes. The detailing around the windows or the treatment of the ground floor provides ornament and variation.

Seen from a distance Südseite presents itself as a high-density urban area with the new residential towers at its heart providing a new skyline together with the former Siemens Office Tower (Siemens Hochhaus) that is just visible as a grey slab behind the new towers in white.