The Planquadrat. Would it still be possible today?

Guests:

Katharina Bayer, architect, einszueins architektur
Elisabeth Guggenberger, filmmaker and screenplay writer
Christine Mayer-Habian, author of „Die Ballade vom Planquadrat-Garten. Eine wahre Geschichte aus Wien“
Katharina Novy, member of the board, Gartenhofverein Planquadrat
Helmut Voitl, filmmaker and screenplay writer
moderated by: Michael Klein, Architekt

For over 40 years the Plani in the Fourth District has been a green oasis in the midst of one of the most densely developed areas in Vienna. However only a few visitors know about the unique history behind the completion of the garden courtyard: The process of transforming an urban wasteland consisting of 34 courtyards into what remains a self-administered publicly accessible park complex to this day, was the result of an initiative by documentary filmmakers Elisabeth Guggenberger and Helmut Voitl. Together with the Projektgruppe Planquadrat, led by architect and planner Hugo Potyka, they animated local residents to give up their apathy, to take responsibility for their own living environment and actively participate in its design. The process was accompanied by a television series in the prime-time programme of the ORF.

We explore a piece of Viennese urban and architecture history, and pose the following question in the process: Would the Planquadrat still even be possible today?