SoSe 25 LEER:RELEARN

Is airspace a collective good? Airspace in Germany cannot be bought, rented, or leased—unlike in New York, where air rights can even be acquired from neighboring properties to enable vertical expansion beyond the standard building limits - with considerable consequences. Converted roof spaces should not be a sign of displacement but rather an opportunity to create additional space for social and collective housing. How can suitable land for social housing and community-oriented constructions be reimagined?

Whoever owns the land owns it all the way up to the sky and down to hell. Cuius est solum, eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos – This is the Roman principle of property ownership, traces of which, albeit in a restricted form, can still be found today in § 905 of the German Civil Code (BGB).
The understanding of property in land and sky, and thus of resources, is deeply embedded in Western societies. And in a time of speculative urban development, where ambitions range from the purchase of air rights in New York to plans for settlements on Mars, extending well beyond the Kármán Line – the boundary that separates Earth's atmosphere from space – these ideas continue to be upheld, based on the belief that people can lay claim to air, sea, and land.

Housing is usually considered to be managed by public or private companies or individuals. With the exception of some cooperatives (not all!), if we live in some form of multiple family buildings, governing our homes usually has nothing to do with us. Our rents and/or mortgages are part of the global financialization system and their price is determined by the rules of the financial market. If we happen to live in public housing, the maintenance of our building can be very bad and in the case of a private landlord, we can expect that the rent can easily go up at any time. But, what if we were to reconsider these claims? What if we can design systems of housing self governance - housing as an arena for decision making of the tenants? Or better yet - city land as a collectively and democratically run resource?

As part of the course BETWEEN COLLECTIVE LAND AND SKY, we will take a study trip to Vienna to learn about the history of social housing there and examine existing rooftop extensions. For example, the extension of the Auhof Center in Vienna-Penzing, which enabled the construction of 71 subsidized apartments on the roof of the shopping center. As well as the public swimming pool in Alt-Erlaa by Harry Glück, or the refurbishment and extension of the Wien Museum by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Winkler-Ruck and Certow. We focus on both residential construction and public buildings.