Îles Flottantes – Social Housing in the South of Vienna

The design offers a common public space to the inhabitants of this large new housing complex, subsidised by the municipality of Vienna, This landscape – financed by six different developers and non-profit cooperatives – serves as outdoor meeting place, recreation area and playground for kids and adults. A preliminary stage included also a neighbourhood park with a lake which is going to be realized in a later phase.
The landscape presented here includes an explicitly public area extending east-west and a part belonging to the central housing complex, which form – in close cooperation with the architects – together a coherent unity in function and perception. A so called upper garden introduces a more intimate part at the level of the first floor while the ground floor of the central buildings is reserved mainly for uses such as shops and small offices.
The area is defined by floating green islands incorporating different functions and offering diverse possibilities for informal use. The design includes highlights like a water surface at the meeting square, a boulder wall for kids and a chill out zone for youngsters – seldom in social housing units. The tree selection shows among others Celtis australis, Fraxinus angustifolia “Raywood” and Prunus avium “Plena”; a mix of flowering shrubs and ornamental grasses provide an attractive appearance with some evergreens.
The site was opened in November 2017 and became soon a magnet. The fact that it serves as an open public site without any boundaries makes it particularly attractive.