Austrian Pavilion at 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale Contrasts Vienna and Rome Housing Models

The Austrian Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Michael Obrist, Sabine Pollak, and Lorenzo Romito, presents a comparative exhibition on housing models in Vienna and Rome. The pavilion, designed by Josef Hoffmann, has been transformed into a 'Space of Negotiation' with a reconstructed pool originally planned by Hoffmann, built with Wienerberger bricks. The exhibition features eight non-linear stations covering topics from Red Vienna's superblocks to contemporary experiments, including the 1921 Einküchenhaus for working women. Vienna's social housing system is highlighted: 77% of the population rents, 55% in controlled-rent housing; the city owns 220,000 apartments plus 200,000 from non-profit cooperatives. Income thresholds allow access up to €59,500 net annually, with no citizenship requirement after two years of residency. Rome's bottom-up approach is documented through self-representation of squatters and activists, including a wooden model of Corviale with 100 occupations. Photographer Armin Linke documented negotiation spaces in both cities. The exhibition also includes five 'Climate Change Winners' plants adapted to Vienna's future Mediterranean climate. The curators aim to explore hybridization between Vienna's administrative rigor and Rome's spontaneous creativity to address the global housing crisis.