Bespoke Vienna Archive
Heritage Field Notes
Observations from places, conversations, materials, and the occasional thing worth noting.
Bernard's Eyebrow & Monastic Roses
What begins as a long-awaited visit to a hidden chapel becomes a story about roses, custodianship, and why Bernard of Clairvaux might have preferred the courtyard.
12,000 Years in a Trolley
A French art historian who rescues books from dumpsters, a set of archaeological dossiers assembled by an unknown hand, and approximately 20 kilos of human history carried across Vienna by tram and bus.
The Barista
At a beach bar somewhere along the Calabrian coast, I asked the barista what he does in the off-season. The answer couldn't have been more unexpected.
Zieglergasse 24
A visit to Jarosinski & Vaugoin, the world's finest silver cutlery since 1847, a worker's confusion, and Irish Punk music to set the tone.
Never too old for colour
Three generations, one kitchen table, and a century old Austrian classic. A Field Note on Easter traditions, Brauns egg dyes, and why one is never too old to play with colour.
Schlosser Platzl
A new route home from the hairdresser, a square I had never entered, and seven hundred years of a trade hiding in plain sight in Vienna's 8th district.
The Homeland
A drive to Aschach an der Donau with my father, a cabinet maker at the Danube since 1888, and an English marquetry cabinet in the most miserable condition, awaiting the master's touch.
The Rotunda
Crossing the Rotunda of the Vienna International Centre on the way to an appointment, I walked right into an exhibition about craft as a path back. I did not walk out the same way.
DOMIZIL, Herrenstrasse
A shop window in Linz, bespoke opulence, and a French tea towel calling itself a local souvenir.