The focus of the excursion was on the comparative analysis of brutalist architecture and post-socialist housing concepts in two neighboring, yet long-separated capitals. The excursion not only shed light on the architecturally “raw” manifestations, but also on the underlying planning ethics and their respective visions of a fair distribution of living space with an affordable and diverse quality of life.

In Bratislava, the students visited the large housing estate Petržalka, the pyramid-shaped radio and TV building, an experimental terrace house and a now vacant department store in the city center. On the second day, they took the Twin City Liner on the Danube to Vienna and visited the famous Alterlaa housing estate (designed by architect Harry Glück), the “Breitenfurter Fisch” housing estate from the 1980s and the legendary Wotruba church. Hartmut Dumke, Milan Husár, opens an external URL in a new window and Matej Jaššo, opens an external URL in a new window  talked about the life and work of the respective architects and discussed with the 30 students how the perception of Brutalism has changed over the decades between vision and dystopia, and also which principles are still valid today.