My Dreamhouse is not a House

40-part photo series, each 30x40cm,
private archive material from Doris Pollet-Kammerlander and Gerlitzgründe residents
2019

My Dreamhouse is not a House deals with the Gerlitzgründe in Graz (AT), one of the first Austrian publicly funded participatory social housing projects by architect Eilfried Huth from the 1970s.

The working method he developed provided a form of collaboration where architects and prospective residents could meet on equal terms. The results from these processes were single, occupant-designed homes within residential blocks where strong communities and friendships came to develop.
Seeking to universalize housing access, Huth reserved the first construction phase (30 units) of the Gerlitzgründe for low-income parents aged under 30. The projects were unique because no possibility of a participatory approach existed outside the privately financed market at that time.

Julia Gaisbacher approaches the collaborative residential project through photography, archive material, interviews and a documentary film, addressing residents' relationships to the projects over the last 45 years.
The work is intended as a contemporary document of the potentially positive impact that architecture can have on society.


Please also see the other project parts
My Dreamhouse is not a House (publication)
My Dreamhouse is Daydreams (documentary film)