Through case studies, SOCIAL HOUSING VIENNA–LOS ANGELES examines how architecture and housing intersect. Based on architectural models, drawings, photographs, and building materials, the exhibition presents ten trailblazing projects that reflect the diversity of experimental housing designs in Los Angeles and Vienna, including novel approaches that make it possible to live affordably in metropolises against a backdrop of climatic and social political crisis.

The housing crisis in Los Angeles is well known, but not well understood. In contrast to Los Angeles, the city of Vienna, with over 200,000 units of social housing at its disposal, considers housing to be a human right. With an emphasis on architecture outside of conventional development models (capitalist, speculative, and for-profit), the exhibition explores how city councils, architects, and local authorities can spur radical initiatives by adopting the fresh ideas, new concepts, and civic initiatives cropping up in Vienna and Los Angeles. It also probes the complex interplay between civic responsibility, social trust, and architectural design.

Curator: Beth Stryker, Michael Obrist, Sabine Pollak