Exhibition

Both parts of the pavilion begin with films that tell “mythical” stories of the cities and their approach to housing, land policy, and urban space. The two large exhibition rooms present different situations and themes in Vienna and Rome that relate to history, specific places, organizational forms, initiatives, and spaces.

In addition to this, there are topics from the city’s history that have had a strong influence on its extraordinary quality of living, such as the comprehensive gender planning established in 1998. Or individual pioneering projects like the Sargfabrik, a self-organized, experimental residential project that has acted as a role model for housing across Vienna.

Lago Bullicante is an example of the co-evolution of a neighborhood community and a spontaneous process of renaturalization of a former viscose factory, where, in 1992, an attempt to illegally build a shopping center resulted in the breaching of the water table and the creation of a natural lake. The efforts of the local community to protect this place from speculation eventually led to this unique natural environment being awarded the status of a nature reserve. Ararat is the informal embassy of the stateless Kurdish community. It has hosted collaboration between social movements, refugees, and artists for a quarter of a century and the spectacular Newroz celebration takes place here every year. Spin Time, a former public office building, Porto Fluviale, a former military barracks, Metropoliz, a former meat factory, Quarticciolo’s former police station, and 4 Stelle, a never completed hotel, have all been occupied by housing rights movements and now, after a decade of collective inhabiting of these places, some very complex social and spatial shapes have emerged. They are home to a highly innovative coexistence between different cultures and a mix of housing, social, and cultural uses.

Spin Time, the only remaining downtown occupation, where around 150 families from 27 countries live together in 21,000 square meters, contains a theater, a museum, after-school care for children, art workshops, social and medical facilities, a barber’s shop, and a restaurant. A large map of Rome and the “reuse” of a model of Corviale (a housing complex from the 1970s) as an archive of places – both created by the collective Stalker (Rome) in collaboration with IURmap and Scomodo – indicate the location and history of 100 ruins. These have either been
renaturalized, occupied as a result of the housing crisis, or used for social and cultural purposes – or they remain abandoned and in search of a potential function.

Plants are set into the plateau. These are climate change “winners,” plants that are able to withstand the temperatures forecast for Vienna and Rome. At 25 m2, the area of the plateau matches that of a residential unit in the One-Kitchen House and cluster apartments in Vienna or a former office unit in Santa Croce/Spin Time in Rome. This is also the per capita requirement for climate-friendly living space, as long as additional space is available for commons.

In Vienna, for example, the office of the City Councilor for Housing was photographed, as were housing promotion and research offices and the offices of wohnfonds_wien, but also the offices of pioneering projects such as the Sargfabrik or the neunerhaus. In Rome, Armin Linke photographed the process and the places represented in the pavilion but also the planning office and the site at Porto Fluviale, where the collaboration between the municipality and the housing rights movement is becoming reality. The photographs are mounted on placards reminiscent of those used at demonstrations, such as the numerous demonstrations that have been held during the fight for affordable housing in Rome.