Kick-Off Meeting

On the 29^th of February and the 1^st of March 2024 TransHerit´s advisory board composed of Maria Gravari-Barbas, Eirest Paris 1-Sorbonne University; Yvonne Franz, Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna; Walter Matznetter, former professor at the Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna and Manuel Aalbers, KULeuven, joined the team from the Institute for Urban and Regional Research for  the project´s kick-off meeting at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The agenda for the two-day event included presentations on the research proposal, the object under investigation, the conceptual framing and the research design. Exchanges and discussions were very fruitfuls and insightful. The kick-off ended with an interactive tour around a section of the 15^th district of Vienna organized by Florian Brand. The presentations highlighted the origins, similarities and differences of the Gründerzeit housing stock (GHS) in Vienna and Budapest. They reflected on the infrastructure development and planning instruments the cities used at the turn of the 19^th century to facilitate expansion and the construction of new residential areas. The presentations also emphasized an ordinary heritage approach but selecting place studies outside the designated UNESCO zones, and analyzing the role of non-protected buildings in forming cultural heritage. The attendants discussed the framework for selecting the case studies and the criteria that could be implemented in both Vienna and Budapest. Furthermore, the terms of financialization and commodification were discussed and defined more in detail during the expert discussions. These phenomena characterize the changing ownership structure of historical tenement buildings of Vienna, whereas post-socialist privatisation appears to be some of the most important driving forces transforming the GHS in Budapest. To be able to physically observe the changing image of the city, Florian Brand architect (HuB architects) took the team through the 15th district of Vienna, where his office is located.

Participants:
TransHerit Team:
Sandra Guinand, Viktória Éva Lélek, Robert Musil (ÖAW/ISR), Maren Beaufort (ÖAW/CMC), Hanna Szemzö (MRI, Budapest), Florian Brand (HuB Architects)

Advisory Board:
Maria Gravari-Barbas (Eirest, Paris1-Sorbonne University), Manuel Aalbers (KU Leuven),
Yvonne Franz, Walter Matznetter (University of Vienna)