Study Abroad: Vienna

From May 27 to June 9, NYSID students had an amazing opportunity to participate in a two-week study tour to Austria’s capital, Vienna. This journey introduced students to the rich architectural and design heritage of one of the most influential central European cities, as well as its vibrant contemporary arts scene. Read more.

While traveling throughout Vienna, students visited museums and historic sites including: Schonbrunn Palace + Grounds, Belvedere Palace, Kunstishoriches Museum, Hunderwasser Haus, and visited Mies van der Rohe’s masterpiece in Brno, Czech Republic, Villa Tugenhat, as well as a one-day tour of new Viennese interiors with a local practitioner. Day trips also included visits to Wagner’s exquisite Kirche am Steinhof (Church of St. Leopold) designed for the patients and staff of a psychiatric hospital, and Steven Holl’s contemporary design for a hotel/winery/spa in the rural town of Loisium.

Many of Vienna's major art and cultural destinations are near or within the Ringstrasse, the historic city center that is largely car-free, and which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Vienna, the center of the Hapsburg Empire’s power and one of the 19th century’s most opulent cities, provided the backdrop for avant-garde thought that helped shape 20th century design, including the Secession Movement, the Weiner Werkstatte, and seminal works by such architects as Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos.

“To fully appreciate the glories of art and design, one must experience them in situ,” said NYSID’s Associate Dean, Barbara Lowenthal. “Students in the Vienna Study Abroad course were immersed in, and inspired by, the city’s rich architectural design heritage and vibrant contemporary arts scene. Only in Vienna could students appreciate the transcendent natural light in the work of Otto Wagner and the monumental fluidity of Zaha Hadid.”