Vienna Design Week Passionswege: Vandasye @ Chronometrie Sulzberger

Every year the Vienna Design Week places a special focus on one district of Vienna.

This year it was Hernals.

The industry and agriculture that once dominated Hernals have long since vanished and the streets of Hernals are dominated by telephone card shops, fruit shops and those curious businesses with the red curtains that dominate what politicians call “problem areas”.

Hernals of course isn’t a problem area. As with all similar inner-city districts it is an area with infrastructure problems largely caused by inadequate political responses to the changing situation.

Which is also one of the reasons Vienna Design Week decided to focus on Hernals; to try to bring a few new ideas and perspectives to the political and sociological discussion.

Among the numerous – and we must add highly predictable “interventions” in Hernals – the shining star was without question Vandayse @ Chronometrie Sulzberger: part of the Passionswege programme.

Chronometrie Sulzberger is a small chronology shop in the Hernalser Hauptstrasse. Olde-worlde some would say.

Dietmar Sulzberger is a traditional chronologist – a craftsman with understanding and passion for what he does.

Chronometrie Sulzberger is however an oasis in a sea of empty shops, telephone card shops, fruit shops and a few of those curious premises with the red curtains.

Without the community of craftsman and specialist shops that once surrounded him, Dietmar Sulzberger feels isolated and alone.

And so for their Passionswege project Georg Schnitzer and Peter Umgeher fron Vienna design studio Vandayse challenged this problem head-on and created a wonderful “Offline virtual Community” solution.

So “Community 1.5”

In short Dietmar Sulzberger now offers products and services from high quality Austrian producers and service providers, such as, Hack knives, leather toy animals by Adrien Rovero or glassware from  J & L Lobmeyr

Each product is accompanied by a short leaflet which the customers can take away with them.

And? You may rightly ask.
What have they done other than turn a small chronology shop into a small chronology shop with a selection of high quality non-chronology goods?

Nothing, we would reply.

But that’s the point.

They have offered Dietmar Sulzberger’s customers more value, added value, without Dietmar Sulzberger having to change or alter what he does.

And in addition they have opened up the potential for a sort of old-skool link exchange.

We’re fairly certain Dietmar Sulzberger isn’t on facebook, and his shop certainly has no blog nor can you become mayor of it on 4square.

But if he can help, for example, Wascheflott then Wascheflott can return the favour.

And in doing so Vienna’s traditional, handcraft businesses form their own network, based on their rules and traditions; and suddenly they don’t seem so isloated and alone any more.

And Dietmar Sulzberger has new perspectives.

Which is wonderful.

If it helps Hernals, is questionable.

That said, it probably has more chance of helping than most of the Hernal’s interventions.