Reviews: 2012
Fokusbezirk Ottakring/Hernals 2012
Formerly a typical, so-called working-class district of Vienna, Ottakring (16th Viennese District) has been utterly transformed in recent years. Artists, creative people and students have all moved in; the concentration of studios and shops and cafés has grown enormously, especially around Yppenplatz. They encounter an area containing a high proportion of Viennese with migration background, comparisons with the Berlin district of Kreuzberg are not off the mark, especially as regards the ambivalence between threatening gentrification and healthy ethnic diversity. With the festival headquarters in the “Gschwandner”, a former amusement establishment, also many other stations in Ottakring and Hernals (17th District), the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK casts the spotlight on its two focal districts and presents traditional handicraft operations, young designers, for ten days it infuses life into empty shops through active social design and creates connections between design and the urban space.
