Retrofit Vienna Website

All design results are now available online!

The “Retrofit 3.0 Municipal Housing” design was recently completed. As the name suggests, there have been two previous designs that dealt with retrofitting. All semester projects were carried out as part of the “Retrofit Vienna” research initiative, which was designed and implemented in cooperation with the Urban Development Research Group at TU Vienna (Andreas Hofer), MIA (Andrea Überbacher), and PlanSinn (Wolfgang Gerlich). Stakeholders from the City of Vienna, Wiener Wohnen, and other important players were also involved.

Generally the prject is abouttransformaing aging structures with future potential to be fit for the future through targeted interventions. Various urban districts with municipal buildings from the interwar period and the early postwar period were selected for the projects, and the goal was set to adapt them to the changing requirements of their residents .In times of climate change, this includes measures in the areas of climate, mobility, social cohesion, resilience, food sovereignty, local economy, and biodiversity. With respect for existing resources and in line with a circular economy and resource-conserving approach, the research initiative ” Retrotfit Vienna” is working on solutions for preserving and improving living spaces in Vienna.

The students participating in this year’s semester project worked on modular solutions for the architectural, ecological, and social transformation of municipal housing. In the area of WienNeu+ and Grätzl 20+2 six different Municipal buildings and the associated open spaces were grouped into four ensembles. During the development process, great importance was attached to ongoing dialogue with Wiener Wohnen, local actors, and residents of the area and the citys municiapality.

In addition to the latest contributions, which are now online, the website features all projects from the last four years, sorted according to the three semester projects from 2024, 2022, and 2020. You can always take a look at the student teams’ booklet. We cordially invite you to do so!

MIA would like to thank all participants for their contribution to all projects over the last four years and, above all, we would like to thank the motivated students at TU Vienna, whose work full of ideas will hopefully lead to future-proof, sustainable urban development in Vienna.

Lecturers Team Retrofit (Research Initiative Retrofit_Wien):

Andreas Hofer (TU Wien, Department of Urban Design)

Wolfgang Gerlich (PlanSinn GmbH)

Andrea Überbacher (MIA GmbH)

Authors: Karolina Marwitz, Andrea Überbacher, Andreas Hofer

Images (c): Magdalena Hummel, Paul Oechsner, “Gemeinshaftsbau+”,