Common areas in Viennese residential buildings

“Common spaces” in Viennese housing are the central theme of the course for architecture and spatial planning students in the 2022 summer semester. The interest in communal spaces is no coincidence—the current discourse on new forms of communal living (“co-living,” “collective urban living,” etc.), but also the housing policy goal of “living in community” calls for an in-depth examination of new forms of collectively used spaces. We want to empirically investigate the sociological finding of a “return of community in late modernity” (Rosa et al. 2010) with case studies on the use of communal spaces. We want to know how much community there really is in communal spaces. What is understood by community, how it is created, what ideas planners and developers in particular have when designing communal spaces – and to what extent their ideals are realized in residential practice.

To find out, we will take a closer look at individual residential complexes in Vienna. Since one of the goals of the course is to examine the historical and cultural development of communal spaces in terms of their form and function (from the superblocks of “Red Vienna” to today's residential towers), our first step will be to not only distinguish between different types of communal spaces, but also to differentiate between the housing stock in a historical longitudinal section. After an initial overview combined with site visits, we will select specific examples from the municipal and subsidized housing stock for case studies. The fieldwork, to be carried out in small teams, will be supplemented by joint excursions lasting several hours (e.g., to the Karl-Marx-Hof, Wiesn Süd, Sonnwendviertel, or Seestadt Aspern). The practical research work will be supported by theoretical input. When dealing with central concepts (such as community, society, social infrastructure), we will draw on sociological theory (Tönnies, Durkheim, Rosa).

Students of architecture and spatial planning are welcome to attend this course! The course will take place as “Elective Seminar Cultural and Architectural Sociology 264.226” (Curriculum 033 243 Architecture) and Project “Topics in Spatial Planning – Community Spaces” 280.992 (Curriculum 033 240 Spatial Planning and Regional Development).

Instructors: Anita Aigner and Judith M. Lehner (Research Center New Social Housing)

Mode: In-person instruction

Dates: Every Tuesday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., kick-off on March 8, 2022

More information about the course can be found in TISS under Elective Seminar Cultural and Architectural Sociology and Topics in Spatial Planning – Common Spaces.

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