2024-12-22T03:11:07-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150019571/what-u-s-cities-can-learn-from-vienna-s-urban-housing-policy Alexander Walter 2017-07-26T14:39:00-04:00 >2017-07-26T14:46:40-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/6s/6snxweq361pcqsa6.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>This is a two-part series on housing policy in Vienna and how it could be a model for progressive housing policy in Seattle, where I live, or other American cities struggling with affordable housing. The first part is an overview of financing and subsidies. Part two, coming tomorrow, looks in detail at how zoning and development supports housing affordability.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Mike Eliason,&nbsp;passivhaus designer with&nbsp;Seattle-based&nbsp;<a href="http://archinect.com/patano_studio" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Patano Studio</a>, penned an insightful two-part commentary for <em>City Observatory</em>, looking at issues of financing, zoning, affordability, sustainability, and quality of life in a side-by-side comparison of <a href="http://archinect.com/news/tag/66446/vienna" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vienna</a> and <a href="http://archinect.com/news/tag/7932/seattle" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seattle</a>.</p> https://archinect.com/news/article/139461710/viennese-student-dorms-may-passively-house-refugees Julia Ingalls 2015-10-21T17:19:00-04:00 >2015-10-24T18:28:18-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/ef/efkrjqiqjrhpdjhk.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Sustainable, fast, and cheap housing: just what you need when you're escaping <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/107953878/what-does-the-syrian-refugee-crisis-mean-to-architecture" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">oppressive regimes</a>, <a href="http://archinect.com/features/article/126442466/how-architects-can-help-nepal-and-learn-from-past-disastrous-mistakes-successes" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">natural disasters</a>, and other refugee-creating events. Christoph Chorherr, Vienna's Green Party planning spokesperson, has blogged that the mobile&nbsp;<a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/129420907/cornell-tech-to-build-world-s-first-passive-house-high-rise-on-ny-s-roosevelt-island" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Passive House</a> dormitories designed by G&uuml;nter&nbsp;Lang for students in Vienna's Seestadt Aspern district&nbsp;could easily be adapted to comfortably house refugees.&nbsp;</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/rp/rp5hlf3o2ffzadxa.jpg"></p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/59/59gjwyuztoyamfja.jpg"></p><p>With a construction cost of 1.140 Euro per square meter, the dorms not only can be erected in a few days, but also meet the "Passive House Standard," meaning that they reduce traditional building energy consumption by up to 90%. Passive House Standard dwellings aren't limited to Vienna: from Canada to Germany to South Korea, the form is proving popular with energy-conscious designers.</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/zq/zqofavyur76yqlu6.jpg">&nbsp;</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/qe/qe9wykcjfdar18ja.jpg"></p>