Lastenstrasse Housing - MALAHOF Wien, Østerrike

Article by Mirza Mujezinovic

In 2005, at the age of 28, Mirza Mujezinovic, Sinisa Lecic and Bendik Aursand, who had studied together at NTNU, won the Europan competition and were commissioned to build a large housing complex in Vienna, Austria. The 300 m long and 50 m wide lot was located in the Liesing neighbourhood, and bordered the railway and a storage area. Through many trials and tribulations, adjustments and abandonment of ideas, killing of darlings and swallowing of camels, Mujezinovic saw the project completed in 2017. In the twelve years he spent working on the project, he served not only as architect, but also worked extensively on documentation, committee presentation to secure funding and all the joys of project management. What started out as a collaboration between Mujezinovic and two former classmates, became a one man show. In this article, Mujezinovic takes us on a journey from the first idea for the project to eventually receiving feedback from residents on their Facebook wall. 

The 30.000 sq.m. project consists of an eight-storey apartment building with 182 units, and 68 atrium houses in groups of four, enclosing a backyard. The roof of the apartment building has areas for urban farming, a 25 m swimming pool and a 360-degree view of Vienna.