September 15, 2008

EUROPE | AUSTRIA | VIENNA

Vienna by Design

By Nicole Cotroneo

Berlin, who? There's a new capital of cool in Central Europe.

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At first glance, Vienna’s dominating Baroque architecture hardly commends the city as a leader in avant-garde design. But then, first impressions are often misleading. A new architecture tour has just launched focusing on the modern face of the Austrian capital. Highlights include Vienna’s most contemporary towers and the MuseumsQuartier (pictured)— a clutch of nearly 50 institutions for contemporary art and culture housed in and around converted 18th-century imperial stables. Guests experience this “New Vienna” aboard the luxurious Emotionliner, a 15-passenger designer coach bus with leather armchairs (that rotate 360 degrees), Internet access and upscale catering by Do & Co.

Consider the tour a primer for next month’s full-on design blitz, starting with Vienna Design Week, October 2-12, followed by Blickfang, October 17-19. In its second year, Vienna Design Week features over 45 events and installations, children’s workshops and design discussions, hosted all over the city. There are “Design Safari” daytrips to nearby Bratislava and Prague as well as “Passion Paths of the Design Trail” leading visitors to Viennese shops by young and established designers. “Vienna is not just imperial aesthetics,” Design Week founder Thomas Geisler told globorati. “We want to put Vienna on the international design map.”

Blickfang might have already done it. Started in Stuttgart 17 years ago, the festival has spawned editions in Tokyo, Zurich and, five years ago, Vienna. It’s become Austria’s largest design fair for fashion, furniture and jewelry, where 140 emerging Austrian designers display and sell their creations. There are fashion shows held under the porticos of the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), and design awards for the best products — one of which will earn a place in the MAK design shop.

Built in 1871 in the style of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, the MAK is a microcosm for Vienna’s synthesis of old and new. Even the dining room of its acclaimed in-house restaurant, Österreicher im MAK, includes a futuristic glass-walled annex with a retractable roof (pictured). Plus, there are two menus, each featuring Viennese cuisine: the traditional execution and a more contemporary interpretation.

Still, there are some institutions where traditional taste still successfully thrives, such as the Hotel Sacher Wien (guestroom pictured). Founded in 1876, the Sacher is the city’s beloved grand dame known as much for its namesake chocolate cake (the Sacher torte) as it is for its top-notch service. This is where the A-listers stay, including Prince Albert of Monaco (who came for the European football championship) and, during globorati’s stay, actress Anne Hathaway and director Garry Marshall.

While the décor remains firmly classic — think crimson walls and carpets, oversized oil paintings and rich wood paneling — the hotel has kept its amenities in line with the times. Since 2004, there have been extensive renovations, including that of the fine dining salon, Anna Sacher, which just re-opened this month. Two entire floors were added which now house a small elegant spa and some of the Sacher’s best rooms: corner rooftop suites with massive wraparound terraces. And the views? The very heart of historic Vienna.