Vienna Secession

Our tour kicks off with a Viennese classic that has well earned its title and is one of the most beautiful art nouveau buildings in Vienna, within walking distance of Zara’s alma mater. The impressive entranceway bears the inscription ‘Der Zeit ihre Kunst, der Kunst ihre Freiheit’ (To every age its art, to every art its freedom). The Secession Building was built in 1898 by Joseph Maria Olbrich as a venue for exhibitions and collections for the up-and-coming bohemian art scene centred around Gustav Klimt. The population at the time was disappointed by how new and out of place the building looked compared to those surrounding it. Today, the Secession hosts rotating exhibitions showcasing the work of international artists. One special feature is the view from the cupola, which is not usually accessible to visitors. It was renovated only recently, a process during which some of the gold leaf went missing. ‘Went missing’, or ‘was stolen’, as others would say. ‘Gfladert’ as Viennese would say.

Kleines Café

No website, no email address, not even a phone number. This café, located in the first district, knows that visitors will find it anyway. That’s due to its sandwiches, for example, which are served even past midnight, when the tourists make room for the odd regular. Architect Hermann Czech was responsible for the café’s interior furnishings. The ‘toilets that have become necessary’ weren’t added until 15 years later, in the mid-1980s. To this day, you can see the less exposed side of the local coffeehouse culture, with people sitting around for hours reading magazines and leading discussions fuelled by the house wine. People smoke in here too, of course. Is it true that the tiles were originally grave slabs? ‘Could be,’ says the waiter. You could ask the boss, who comes into the café for half an hour each lunchtime. In person, of course. 

Franziskanerplatz 3

Significant Other

After browsing, we carry on our tour — with some more architecture, of course. And art. ‘As a freelance artist, you are quite privileged in Vienna,’ says curator Laura Amann, referencing the relatively large amount of support available. Together with her partner Jen Kratochvil, she has been running the Significant Other gallery for the past year and a half. Their exhibitions, she explains, focus on architecture from an artistic perspective, adding that ‘in doing so, we want to circumvent the conventional hierarchies’. For Jasmina Cibic’s ‘Everything We Do Today Will Look Heroic in the Future’, the duo set up an exhibition space that reached right up to the street and was covered over and over again with drawings of an insect with the unsettling name ‘Hitlerkäfer’ (Hitler bug). Moving to Vienna was a conscious decision for Laura and Jen  — taken on one hand for the freedom afforded by its low cost of living, and for its up-and-coming arts scene on the other. Then there’s the fact that people know each other here — always a plus.

Alt-Erlaa

We take the underground train to get to our last stop: Alt-Erlaa. Harry Glück received harsh criticism for this satellite town, which was built between 1973 and 1985. People thought the alleyways were too dark, the common rooms too soulless due to a lack of windows, and the housing blocks and resident demographic too homogeneous. Yet, contrary to all expectations, Alt-Erlaa has since emerged as a flagship project. Zara gushes over the ‘Wohnpark TV’, the on-premise bridge club, and the Freddy Quinn Museum, as well as over the residents who traipse up to the rooftop pool in their slippers, noting, ‘We’re all the same in swimming costumes.’ Indeed, Vienna’s social democratic-housing policy, with lots of shared structures and residential estates like Alt-Erlaa, has made a decisive contribution to its residents’ quality of life. The price per square metre for accommodation here is far below the average for a big city. You can apply for one of the 3,200 rental properties. On average, it takes three years to receive your first offer. For Zara, who once lived at Alt-Erlaa for several weeks, this is an opportunity she is seriously considering. Because there is one thing you’ll find here for certain: happiness.