Photos: Isiwal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Taxiarchos228, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo credits
Photos: Isiwal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Taxiarchos228, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The building locals call the Friendly Alien
Your local guide
Simon Krenn
View profile
Highlights
- A building locals call the Friendly Alien
- Built for a year as culture capital
- Rooftop nozzles instead of windows
- Graz's strangest building, explained
- Contemporary architecture beside the old town
About this tour
This session looks at one of Graz's most unusual buildings from the outside. You see the biomorphic blue shell known locally as the Friendly Alien, built for the city's year as a European Capital of Culture, then the rooftop nozzles designed to bring light inside without conventional windows. It stays outside the building throughout.
I explain the reasoning behind the unusual shape first, then point out the rooftop details most people walk straight past. Questions about the architecture are welcome throughout.
This suits anyone interested in contemporary architecture rather than the city's older buildings. It also works well paired with a walk along the river just below it.
Included
- Live video walk with a local guide
- Questions to your guide all the way
- A short list of places to visit later
Not included
- Internet connection
- Travel to the city
Itinerary
-
Welcome and sound check 5 min
The guide joins the video call, checks the picture and sound with you, and gives you a quick sense of Graz before heading out.
-
Kunsthaus Exterior 21 min
You see the biomorphic blue shell locals still call the Friendly Alien, built for the city's year as a European Capital of Culture in 2003.
-
Rooftop Nozzles 21 min
The camera looks up at the building's strange rooftop nozzles, designed to bring natural light into the galleries below without a single straight window.
-
Your questions 9 min
Time to ask anything about Graz: prices, safety, food, or whatever you are curious about.
-
A short list to keep 4 min
Before you go, the guide sums up with a few things worth remembering: a dish to try: Käferbohnensalat (Styrian bean salad) and Innere Stadt, worth a slower look.
Good to know
- A stable wifi or mobile connection makes the picture smoother than a shaky one.
- Any phone, tablet or laptop with a camera works. You watch, the guide does the walking.
- Times are shown in Vienna time, so check the time where you are before you book.
- The session is not recorded, and recording it yourself is not allowed. Feel free to take your own notes.
- Ask questions any time, out loud or in the chat. The guide will pause to answer.
- Sessions run in small groups, up to 10 people, so there is room for everyone to ask something.
Questions about this tour
What will the session cover?
The guide walks through Graz, showing you Kunsthaus Exterior and Rooftop Nozzles live on camera, plus whatever else you would like to see.
What happens if my connection drops?
Rejoin with the same link within a few minutes and the guide will catch you up on anything you missed.
Can I ask the guide questions during the session, or is it a fixed script?
Anything, any time. Sessions leave room for your own questions throughout, not just at the end.
Do I need any background in art?
No. The guide explains what matters as you go, whatever you already know or do not.
How it works
- You get one join link after booking.
- Join from any device: phone, tablet or laptop.
- We meet on Google Meet and the link comes with your booking. I studied architecture before guiding, so the buildings themselves interest me as much as anything inside them.
Times shown in Vienna time (CET)
Cancellation
Flexible
- Cancel up to 24 hours before the start: full refund.
- Cancel less than 24 hours before the start, or no-show: no refund.
- If the guide cancels or the date does not reach its minimum group: full refund.
- Cancel in My Account → Bookings; the refund is calculated from the start time in the tour's local time.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Reviews appear here after travellers have completed this tour.
How reviews work
Only travellers who booked and paid through Locals Guide and whose tour took place can leave a review, within 60 days of the tour. Every review is marked "Verified booking". We check reviews before they appear and publish positive and negative ones alike; we remove only reviews that break our rules (insults, personal data, unrelated content). Guides cannot pay for, edit or hide reviews, and ratings are the plain average of all published reviews.
Next: Sat 31 Oct · 10 seats left From 19,00 €
Book