Rome and Vienna's Affordable Housing Models Explored at Venice Architecture Biennale

At the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, the Austrian Pavilion hosted 'Agency for Better Living,' an installation curated by Lorenzo Romito, Sabine Pollak, and Michael Obrist. The project compared housing models in Rome and Vienna to address the global housing crisis, which has been exacerbated by the financialization of housing and delayed government responses. Vienna's 'top-down' approach provides social housing and government-subsidized homes to about 60% of residents, including embedded services like pools and community spaces. Rome's 'bottom-up' model features grassroots movements and occupations, such as Spin Time Labs, which housed over 400 people before being disbanded, leaving inhabitants on the streets during extreme heat. The curators emphasized that these categories are not rigid, as both cities involved grassroots and government efforts. The installation used timelines, films, and interviews to present research. A year later, the curators reflected on the project's impact, noting that Spin Time's ongoing negotiations with the city of Rome and property owners echo the Agency's principles. Vienna's mayor, Michael Ludwig, visited Spin Time Labs in late May 2026, continuing the dialogue. The project ran from May 10 to November 23, 2025, and was part of designboom's MODES OF HABITATION chapter.