EinHaken

Lisa Puchner

In 2017 in a communal housing complex in Klagenfurt, the project EinHaken dealt with topics of neighbourhood and habitation. Through spontaneous interventions (an experimental dinner, a fire happening, a Stammtisch, an exhibition tour at the housing complex), we stressed questions of initiative and involvement within the creation of one’s own living spot.

On the site of the communal housing complex Siebenhügel-Siedlung in Klagenfurt EinHaken dealt with questions of neighbourhood, habitation and possibilities of influencing one’s own living space. Spontaneous and participatory interventions opened up new ways of acting aside of the regulated framework and everyday clichés of this prototypical repetitive form of a housing complex. The relations of the tenants with and within their living environment were the starting point. The settlement – 200 flats in 5 buildings – is perceived as rather poor housing area. With the decision of renovation or dismantling the complex pending, the official debate circulated around the expenses and that it may not be affordable for some tenants to stay. Taking this into account, our actions were focused on the ‚resources’ and (sometimes self-)imposed barriers present on site. Thereby, we made use of the circumstance, that we as outsiders were given much more freedom to appropriate the space. Hacking into this – self – observed and also paralyzed living environment, we build up a framework of discussion on how tenants and political actors can re-think the form, design and life of that housing complex.

The first action was an experimental, common dinner in a vacant flat using only material borrowed or received from the neighbours: walking from door to door we collected furniture, food, drinks, cutlery, plants, decoration and much more inviting the people to have dinner together in ‘our’ flat. The next intervention shifted the meeting point to the outside green but rather unused area of the complex: a campfire embedded in a comfortable „living room“ built up from found material around. The next gathering „Stammtisch“ was focused on the reflection of the people from and about Siebenhügel-Siedlung. Recordings of this exchange were the basis for the exhibition in Architektur Haus Kärnten in January. Within this exhibition we also opened up a vacant flat as extension of the exhibition itself.

Nora Gutwenger, 2017

 

Puchner/Trimmel, 2017

 

Time
2017
Location
Klagenfurt
Siebenhügel Siedlung
Team
Ursula Gaisbauer
Nora Gutwenger
Tobias Küke
Lisa Puchner
Stephan Trimmel
Anna Werner