This article is part of our weekly series “Plattenbau stories”, introducing the topic of plattenbau districts in Europe and the world. ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK 2016 will be held in Trakiya, a plattenbau districts in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, from September 30th until October 9th. The main focus of the festival is the topic of “citizen participation in the creation of the urban environment”.

An article from Abitare, for the full version click here.

The book “Modelling Vienna, Real Fiction in Social Housing”, edited by Michael Klein and Andreas Rumpfhuber gives us a throughout research on the topic of housing in Vienna today. A curious fact is that over 80% of the citizens live in publicly owned buildings, some of which are panel blocks, and that is a tradition that started in the early 20’s of the XX century. This was a result of the socialist-democratic influences of the local politics at that time.

The authors have gathered a selection of  reinterpretations of the existing planning models in Vienna so that a connection between architecture and the dynamic changes in today’s way of life can be created. The new functions of a home such as a workplace and  shared space for social activities are taken into account.

The research is based on another project, financed by  “Scarcity and Creativity in the Built Environment”. It’s valuable, because it illustrates the positive example of the Vienna housing policies and takes into account the social changes such as family structures, immigrant wave, the community’s desire for sustainability and eco-friendliness.

“Modelling Vienna” offers a dynamic form of change, that is oriented towards the idea of collective good. It’s good examples can be adapted to other places as well, such as the plattenbau district “Trakiya” for example.